


American Candy

by RaeMWakefield



Category: The 1975 (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Band, Confusion, F/M, Love, Lust, Multi, Music
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 09:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3931693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeMWakefield/pseuds/RaeMWakefield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Heartbreaker<br/>The Heartbroken<br/>The Tease<br/>The One That Got Away</p>
<p>Weekend Misery finally got their big break with their first ever UK tour. They were opening up for The 1975. This was their chance.</p>
<p>Too bad Matty Healy falls in love, and hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Four young girls living their wildest dreams,  
the band of the year, its better than it seems

To travel the world is no small fret  
The bands are fighting,  
No one has taken the stage yet.

Anxious tears and friends being torn apart,  
It's all fair until there's a broken heart.

May it revolve around only one,  
or everyone all at once

Affairs will start,  
games will ensue

Oh, what's a lonely heart to do?

So join X, Lark, Nirvana and Maize  
on a long trip in a smokey haze.

The journey to learn and lose,  
being stuck somewhere in the middle

I promise this will only hurt just a little.

Join the ride of their lives,  
one that will happen through trying times.

Get to know them, as they learn themselves  
Learn as they journey into somebody else.

American Candy has never tasted so sweet,  
Oh how I can't wait for these two bands to meet.


	2. Weekend Misery

“I simply don’t like them,” Matthew Healy, the outspoken lead singer of the British band, The 1975, stated. “They sound gastly,”

George rolled his eyes.

“Matt, this is the fifth band you’ve hated. Stop being so damn picky.”

“I will not,” Matty said firmly, picking up a cigarette and placing it delicately on his chapped lips. “I want a band, not some pop shit.”

It was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Do you have anyone in mind, Matty?”

Matty actually _did_ have a band in mind, but he knew the lads would most likely roll their eyes before giving the band a proper listen. Inside of replying to Adam, or Hann, Matty pushed the man out of the way to get to the laptop sitting in front of George. He smacked his friends hands off of the keyboard, and effortless typed in what he needed.

“For God sake, Matty.” Ross huffed. “Not this bloody band again,”

“They’re good,” Matty snapped back. “G likes them.”

“G does,” George laughed, eyes crinkling as they always did. “But I don’t think we should tour with them.”

Matty pulled a face at his best friend before finding the song that he wanted the entire band to listen to.

“This, fucking _this_ is the band we need! They’re music needs to be heard! It needs to be shouted from the fucking rooftops and sobbed to whilst mending a broken heart. This is music lads.”

Hann gave unsure look at their lead man.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Matthew,” He stated. “They’re young. Maybe when they’re old enough or tall enough to reach the bar then we’ll talk,”

“They’re not fucking ten, Hann,” George laughed again. “They’re...I mean they’re still bloody teenagers, but they are old enough to drink,”

Matty smirked; nearly satisfied. The band knew that he was right. He could practically feel it. He knew that he was going to get his way; that’s just how he was.

“Matty, man are you high?” Ross asked, laughing.

“Maybe a little,” He laughed, slamming shut the laptop. “Good, that’s settled.”

“Wait!” Hann called. “We didn’t talk about it!”

Matty turned to flip him off.

“Too bad, Charles already called them”

“Fuck you,”

“Gladly,” George smirked, laughing a little as Hann rolled his eyes and left the opposite direction. It was a successful day, Matty must have admitted.

****  
  
  


⇈⇊

****  
  
  


“Yes, yes of COURSE!” Bexley, or X as she is known as, yelled into her shiny black iPhone. “Fuck...oops...sorry. Yes, we’d love it. Yes, yes… okay thank you!”

On the other side of the room Larkin and Nirvana were working on new music for Weekend Misery, their all-girl grunge rock band. By work, Lark was laying on the floor with her legs in the air and propped against the ugliest army green couch. Nirvana was actually sitting on the couch with a notebook perched in her lap, however she was making spit balls and shooting them at Maize. Maize happened to be curled up on the other side of the room with a book in her hand, her auburn hair falling in her face. Nirvana gave up when she heard X yelling so loudly into the phone. She stopped her spit-ball escapade and swooped her hair into a messy bun. Lark, however, continued to look blankly at the ceiling.

Writers block never hurt so bad, Lark thought.

“What in the hell was that about?” Nirvana spoke first, giving her friend a look.

“That was… Charles Reed..” She trailed off and all of the girls looked at each other before back at X. “Fuck...he’s the manager for The 1975,”

“What?!” Lark all but shouted, turning her body quickly. She narrowly missed Nirvana’s head. “What the hell, X?! What happened?”

“Calm your tits,” Maize stated, closing her book up. It was _To Kill A Mockingbird_ , naturally. “What did this Charles guy say?”

“He said that Matthew Healy _personally_ invited our band to be their opening act in the UK and Europe!”

“What?” Nirvana laughed. “You’re serious? He did?”

“According to Charles Reed he did!” X shouted again.

X didn’t exactly expect her friend to believe her. Hell, she barely believed it herself. She wanted nothing more than it to be the truth. The girls have been waiting for their big break, and have been having some issues getting connected with good bands as of the last few months. Weekend Misery finished a worldwide tour with the punk all-girl band, Reckless Little Hearts. It was an experience of a lifetime, and it was nice to see the One Direction boys up close and personal. Even if the girls didn’t admit it, they loved the boy-band. They just hid it really well.

The tour was the best thing that could have happened to the four-piece girl band from Seattle. They grew and they ended up inking a record deal that none of them thought would ever happen, but it did. They toured the world and had a cover with Alternative Press magazine. Life had been a little wild for the girls, and it was different. It was a good different.

“I can’t believe this,” Nirvana stated. “This better not be some fucking sick joke or I swear-”

“Stop,” Lark cut her off, elbowing her friend lightly. “You’ll do nothing but cry and eat ice-cream.

Nirvana lifted her middle finger to her friend, whom rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen in response. Lark didn’t want to be petty, so she just left. Maize, now with her book aside was talking with X about all of the details. The only thing that made her nervous was the fact that Charles Reed insisted on hearing and meeting the girls first before the band did. However, the entire band was joining the joyous meet and greet to see how well they meshed together. They was the nerve-wrecking part. The girls, all four, at some degree fancied the pants out of the British band. That made Maize question if it was the right thing, but she figured it wasn’t going to be so bad.

After all, how hard is it to get along with band with equally attractive males?

**Way more difficult than the girls imagined.**


	3. Business and Pleasure

Lark stood in front of her full length mirror in her slightly upscale apartment. She wasn't happy with her outfit choice. She pondered for a moment about whether or not she wanted to wear the shorts that she currently had on. As indecisive as she was, it was difficult. With a muttered string of words; she pulled her shorts off and opted for black pants that went with her black shirt and blue-jean vest. She was okay now, her level of comfortability had gone way up.  
When she finished her hair, simply un-combed waves and a black beanie, she walked out of her bedroom. She wasn't sure what to make of the meeting that would ensue. Her band was newly signed, and that was a lot of pressure on them. The group’s manager was the older brother of Maize. She trusted him so they all did. TJ wouldn't hurt a fly and he was older than them, at 24. Still, Lark was a little apprehensive about it all.   
X was sitting on Lark's couch when she walked out. The pink-haired girl looked very much at home. The girls, all four, had been best friends since they were around six. Lark smiled at one of her best friends.   
"You haven't gotten new magazines yet," X sighed. "I was getting bored."  
"I see that you let yourself in,"  
X winked playfully at her friend before standing up and straightening out her dress.   
"Like I said; I was bored." She replied. "Are you ready?"  
Lark shrugged.   
"I think so,"  
"Good. We're meeting Nirvana, Maize and TJ in the lobby. They're waiting,"  
"Fantastic," Lark muttered.   
Lark may have seemed apathetic, but she wasn't. She was just nervous. She didn't know how this all was going to end up. She was excited, but scared. What if it was some hoax made up to crush their dreams? She didn't think so, but the anxiety is real. Lark didn't want it to be a bad dream.  
"You look like I kicked your puppy," Nirvana stated as soon as the two girls met up with the others. "Seriously, Lark. Chill the fuck out. It's all going to work out, okay?"  
Suddenly, Lark remembered that she wasn't in this alone. That, and Nirvana would be right there. She found comfort in that, simply because the raven-haired girl could be scary sometimes. It's good, Lark sighed. Her thinking was starting to get a little crazy, and she wanted to reach for her safety net. Something told her that she didn't need to, and she listened. Lark had been getting better at following her gut with these things.   
Nirvana softly nudged her friend before wrapping her arm around her shoulders. She knew that Lark got too inside her own head at times. Nirvana herself experienced this sometimes, and it wasn't fun. The dark-haired girl ushered the silver-blonde forward, and kept a steady hand on her shoulder. X and Maize kept at the lead as the four walked out of the building. They were walking since they were to meet Charles and the lads a block away.   
"I wonder what they're going to think," Maize stated out loud. "I hope they like us,"  
"Of course they fucking will! We're awesome," Nirvana stated with an eye-roll  
X just shook her head at the two of them.  
"This should be good, though. We're getting to meet the band and talk about formal arrangements. That's all good."   
"I wish we were doing something else," Lark sighed deeply. They simply didn't know what pressure did to her. She should have taken her medicine. "Where are we going?"   
Maize looked down at the printed email that TJ currently had in his hand.  
"To Sabrina's Eatery right down the street,"   
Nirvana agreed with the choice; the eatery had some of the best pizza in Seattle. In all actuality it was her favorite place to eat, and was more than grateful they chose such a good spot. She looked over at her best friend for just a moment to check on her. Lark was okay; she was with X.  
There was nothing more satisfying than doing something you love, Nirvana decided. She started playing guitar at eight years old and has never stopped. She loved doing what she got to do, and wouldn't trade it for the world. Even if she had something holding her back, and wouldn't give it up. That made her think of Lark; this wasn't easy on her. She knew that Larkin has and would always have trouble with following her dreams without things going bad. It was sad.   
Nothing, ever, would come between Nirvana and music. It had always been that way. She didn't want anything else in this world except to play for people, and most importantly herself. She loved music. Nirvana, despite her best friends, didn't love much of anything. She treats most as if they were invisible and sees no real need to form new friendships. She's hoped for one relationship to the next. That was how she operated, and she was okay with it. She celebrated it.  
The four girls and TJ found themselves in their usual booth. The manager, Wiley, had already started to bring out their usual drink orders. X was quick to warn her that there would be five other people joining the group as well. To their surprise, Wiley had them move to a different area with a different waitress. It seemed to be upsetting for the entire group.   
X liked the change of seating. That happened to be the most exciting thing to happen to them all week, except for Charles calling. As a band, Weekend Misery have been taking a break and sleeping. It seemed that X was the only one who missed touring. That was, until she got the call just the previous day. As soon as she hung up the phone, they all started to jump all over the place as well as squeal. They were happy, extremely happy, that they were finally doing a UK and European tour.   
She just wanted to get back out on the road. She missed the crazy life-style, the dirty clothes and sleepless nights. Those were the nights that X lived for. It felt like the last tour was way too fleeting, and they wanted more. X wanted someone else to give them a chance, and finally, that's what happened. Now if Lark could keep it together, that would be great.   
Maize was apprehensive. She wanted to believe that this meeting was going to go great. However; something told her that this wouldn't go great. Something told her that this tour was going to be long and painful. Maize didn't want to be correct, and she wasn't trying to be pessimistic. She truly had a gut-wrenching feeling about this tour, and she was sure it was right.   
At that moment, Charles Reed walked in with four men dressed in various black and white items following him. He motioned toward the girls and toward the lads.   
"Weekend Misery, this is The 1975," he stated.   
The rest went to hell from there.


	4. Explosive

Adam Hann simply did not like the girls of Weekend Misery. At first, he wanted to give them a shot. He knew that what Matty wanted for the band, it would happen. That’s why he both loved and hated him at times. This was one of the times that he rather hated the man. The girls were odd, that was his first impression. The one with pink hair reminded him a little bit too much of Gemma, Matty’s ex, and the silver-blonde one was oddly quiet. The raven-haired girl was dominating the group quite a lot like Matthew did, and the auburn-haried one looked around wide-eyed at everyone.   
Hann didn’t have enough patience to deal with anymore teenagers. Gemma was great, at times, but he got annoyed quickly with her presence. He rolled his eyes to himself; this was going to be like that but three times over. He didn’t talk much, letting the bands discuss formal arrangements. Weekend Misery would have their own bus and hotel rooms, which was a given. They would have radio interviews, magazine photoshoots, and a dressing room for themselves. The girls had a strict no drinking policy, and that made Hann raise an eyebrow. He was certain that these girls were in for a rude wake-up call.  
He really didn’t start paying attention to the conversation until Ross elbowed him. He looked up, and it seemed like everyone was paying attention to Charles, so he figured that he would turn his attention there as well. The older Englishman was talking still about chemistry and what it would look like to the public if the bands didn’t support each other.   
“I’d like you to get to know each other on a personal level.” Charles stated. “Fun back stories and all of that. I’m sure that you’ll find something to bond over.”   
What could a bunch of mid-twenty adults have in common with a much of barely-legal teenagers? Adam didn’t really know. The youngest he’d really hung out with were early twenty-year olds. He wasn’t so sure that this was going to work out properly.   
Ross felt differently. Despite the weird first impressions, he wanted to give the girl-band a chance. They looked like they were early in their careers, and he wanted to support that. He remembered what it was like trying to really get their band started. It had certainly been a ride. He wanted to give the girls, who looked slightly on edge, the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to support them, and he decided that he would be like a big brother to them as long as they would let him.   
“Tell us about yourselves, then,” Ross gave an encouraging smile as Charles left. Their manager was only there to get legal papers signed and then he was off. He cared, but he wanted things to work and be organic between the two. Weekend Misery’s manager, TJ, also left them to be with the band. “Introduce yourselves, is what I meant.”  
Matty sighed.   
“I like that idea,” He was the first to speak, leaning against the palm of his hand and a playful smile gracing his lips  
“My name is Bexley,” The pink-haired girl stated at first. “Don’t call me Bexley, that’s what my mother calls me. I go by X,”  
Ross smiled. The girl had a flare of feistiness. Adam crossed his arms in what looked like boredom. Matty smiled, genuinely big, and George just nodded for them to continue.   
“I’m Nirvana.” The girl with the raven hair and maroon lips stated. She smiled and it was like the entire room stopped to look at her. “I don’t have nick-names. I hate them.”  
Matty laughed.   
“Me too, love,” He stated, causing the girl to smirk back in his direction.   
In that moment, the other girls knew exactly what was going to happen, and the lads didn’t really catch on. They didn’t know because they didn’t know Nirvana. George wanted to do naughty things to the girl, and he figured she’d be down for it. Hann shook his head, understanding Matty’s brain, and Ross felt uncomfortable.  
“My name is Maize,” Maize stated after seeing just how uncomfortable Lark was. “I play the drums.”  
Adam thought she was kind of adorable.   
Ross thought she was like a little sister  
Matty wanted to cuddle her.  
“Me too!” George held his hand out for a high-five. Maize blushed as she gave the older male a high five.  
“I’m Larkin,” The girl said softly. Adam was taken back by how quiet the girl was. Matty was intrigued by the girl’s demour. She was the one that he expected to be the loudest, but she was not. George instantly thought she was cute, despite her age. “But I go by Lark, because I’m not a fan of my actual name,”   
So this was it? George thought. This group of four girls looked like nothing more than shy school-girls. He knew they had good music, after all he was a fan, but he was still apprehensive. Matty wanted to get to know the girls as quickly as possible. He was excited to see what they were like in more open settings. He was concerned for a moment that things wouldn’t work out, but that idea quickly left him as he stared at the four. This was going to be a good tour indeed. Adam had no more reason to believe this would go well. It would be a disaster, He decided. Someone, or more than one, was going to end up with a broken heart. They would have to be writing for forever, because he figured that Matty would have something to do with it.   
“Are you locals?” Ross asked the girls politely. He was the nice one of the band, but they all were pretty great people to get along with.   
“Yes,” Nirvana laughed. “We were all born and bred into the Seattle music scene. X’s family owns a local coffee shop, Lark was born into music as her father owns a record store, Maize’s dad was a drummer in a band, and my parents were producers back in the day.” She explained.   
“Hey, hate to change the subject, but we should all go out,” Matty stated. “Or back to the hotel,”   
“I don’t think so,” Lark sighed, looking far off. “Sounds...like a bad idea,”   
Matty’s face fell.   
“Why?”  
“Forgive her,” X rolled her eyes. “She’s being a bit melodramatic,”  
But she wasn’t, Lark defended herself. It didn’t do any good as the words wouldn’t get past her lips. Her ability to deal with people at the moment was beyond possible. She just couldn’t handle it.   
“Let’s go then?” George questioned, raising an eyebrow. “You can show us all of the hot spots,”  
“Our pleasure, really,” Maize smiled. “Are we ready?”  
No, Lark’s mind screamed.   
“I guess,” She sighed instead.   
Nirvana gave her best friend a questioning look before shrugging any questions off. Lark was old enough to take care of herself. She’d been doing pretty for the past year, so she should be good.  
“Let’s go then!” Matty stated loudly, standing up first. George laughed at his best friend before pulling him to sit back down.   
“Forgive my mate, he’s just excited,” George smiled, eyes crinkling.   
“Are we sure we want to do this?” Ross questioned as he actually did rise out of his seat. The girls took his lead and finally the rest of the band stood up to follow.   
“Sure,” Adam shrugged. “What’s the worst that can happen anyway?”   
“Nothing,” Maize laughed. “We know Seattle like the back of our hands.”   
“Good,” Matty laughed, tossing his arm over X’s shoulders. “Let’s go!”

 

⇈⇊

 

Nirvana felt so alive. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but something had happened. She was partly convinced that it was the paper with a cartoon character on it that the tall one gave her. George was his name? She wasn’t too sure at the moment. All that she could remember was going to some dodgy club with the lads of The 1975, and now she was dancing around with X and George, completely losing her mind. She felt free, more free than she had ever felt before. George was the one who was apprehensive about giving it to her in the first place. She saw him take it, asked about it, and then in turn asked for one. George didn’t exactly want to give her one, but he did because she pouted when she asked for it. So there they were, dancing around in a dingy, old club with crappy rave music.   
George laughed loudly, spinning both girls. He was having fun, honestly. They were a laugh, and going a little mental if he was honest. He enjoyed their company currently. He was happy that at least he knew the girls were easy to mesh with. Sure, drugs were involved, but that didn’t matter much to George. He was happy to share the freeing feeling, even it really was a prison. X was laughing uncontrollably as she fell down onto the ground, having taken something that George supplied her with. Instead of a small dissolvable paper, it was gel capsule. Nirvana laughed at her friend, pulling her hair into a high ponytail before she attempted to offer a hand to her friend. She was losing it, and the walls were moving.  
X slapped toward both Nirvana and George’s hands before she turned to crawl back to the booth. Inside of the booth, Adam was pouting but nursing on a drink of his own. Ross was clapping and singing along to a song with Maize. She just giggled, having some alcohol despite their strict tour rules. She was already leaning into Adam’s side with her arm around Ross’s shoulders. X plopped down right beside Ross. She was feeling the trip majorly. Everyone around her moved way too quickly, and she couldn’t slow down.   
“You alright there?” Ross yelled over the music. He stopped singing long enough to check on her.   
“I’m fine!” She yelled back. “I’m fucking great!”  
“Brilliant!” Matty yelled back across from the table. Lark was sitting beside him, smiling unlike she was earlier. The girl had loosened up a lot. “This is bloody mental!”   
“I know!” Maize yelled, laughing. “This is amazing!”   
Adam laughed, shaking his head.   
“We’re so screwed.”  
“Buzz kill!” Ross yelled, throwing a chip in his general direction. “Let loose Hann!”   
“Hann?” Lark laughed. “Is that what they call you?”  
“My last name!” He yelled back across the table. “Alright, alright stop Ross!” he laughed.   
“Then go dance!” He yelled.   
“I’m not going alone!”   
“George and Ni are over there. Shhhhh don’t tell her, i...you can’t tell her I used a ame” X stated, grabbing Ross’s drink to finish it off. “Lark! You’re smiling!”   
“I know!” She laughed, yelling back!”   
X leaned her head on her hand.   
“That’s different,”  
“It was Matthew,” She replied, earning an eyebrow raise from Hann.   
Adam was perfectly aware of how many illegal drugs were being currently passed around.   
“Matty…”   
“Fuck off, Hann! We’re having a sick time!” He yelled before looking over at Lark. “Follow me?”  
The silver-blonde nodded before attempting to get out of the booth. She didn’t realize that her beanie was now hanging in the belt loops of the lead singer that she was following. Her hair had been loosely braided and she didn’t remember doing it.   
“Where are we?” She shouted.  
“Shhh, love,” Matty hushed her softly.   
“Okay,” Lark whispered.   
“You trust me?”   
“Sure,” Lark smiled goofily, and Matty was convinced he loved those eyes already. “What?”  
Matty winked before digging into his pocket. His shirt had already been fully unbuttoned, and he felt great. He pulled out a rather pink, chalky looking pill. It had a butterfly stamped onto it.   
“Here you go, love,”  
“What is it?” Lark asked, admiring the sweetheart-like tablet.   
“It’s American Candy, Larkin,” Matty replied. “Open up…” In a haze, Lark slowly opened her mouth. He carefully set the small pill on her tongue. “Swallow it,”   
Lark smiled as soon as she did, opening up her mouth to show him that she did.   
“There,” She stated. “I swallowed,”  
“That you did,” He laughed. “Having fun yet?”  
Lark nodded her head slowly, a smirk forming on her lips.   
“Yeah,” She replied. “I feel it,”  
“They work fast,” he laughed, digging into his pocket for a small tin altoid box. Obviously he didn’t carry altoids in there, but cocaine instead. He brought the box to his lips as a dubstep song started to speed up. He dipped his tongue a bit, just enough to get his tongue coated. He waited for it to dissolve before dipping it again. He shut the box, tangling his hand in Lark’s messy hair. He bent down a bit, and as the bass dropped, pressing his lips to her’s. Quickly, his tongue darted into her mouth, tangling with her own and letting the cocaine affect them both. He didn’t stop until well after the powder had dissolved. When he pulled away, the hazel-eyed girl’s eyes were blown wide. That look was the one that Matty lived for. He lived to see that look on people’s faces. It was addicting.   
“I feel good,” She whispered with a small smile gracing her face.   
“Let’s go to the bathroom.” He suggested, slowly gripping her hand, and well, Lark just followed him.   
Nirvana and George were having the time of their lives. They were now sitting in another part of the packed club, smoking weed like it was going out of style. He was sharing with her, something he didn’t do very often, but he figured they were going to be best friends. He wanted to share with his best friends. It wasn’t nice to withhold the goodies from them.   
“I like you,” George stated. “You’re so fucking rad. Like you’re just.. fucking cool!” he shouted.   
“Fuck yeah I am.” Nirvana laughed. “I’m the best,”  
“Confident as fuck,”  
The girl nodded, grabbing the join from his lips and putting it between her own.   
“I know who I am and what I like,”   
“I dig it,” He yelled, laying his hand on her thigh. “Wanna go somewhere private?”  
“Why take all of the fun out of it?” She smirked, moving so that she was slowly sliding under the table. George watched in awe as the girl got on her knees in front of him. “Just don’t get too loud...or do. No one can hear anyway.” She winked, going straight for the button of his jeans. She passed the blunt back up to him, and he took a long drag. As he blew out of the smoke, he felt her deep throat him, and George was sure this was heaven. It felt bloody brilliant. If they weren’t in public, he’d be more into it. But because they were, he just smirked lazily and watched the girl go down on him.   
“Why are you making that face?” Ross yelled with a laugh.   
“Huh?” George said, trying to act natural about it all.   
“You look like you just had sex,” He laughed.   
“Must have been the LSD.” He stated. “Looney Toons, bro”  
Ross rolled his eyes.   
“Have you seen Matty?”   
“No,” He yelled back, almost moaning out loud because the girl underneath the table was working magic with her mouth. “Check the back. You know how he is,”  
“Yeah… that’s what I’m worried about. He took Lark,”   
George rolled his eyes.   
“It will be okay.”   
“Where’s Nirvana?” He asked.   
George smirked and looked down at the girl who was staring up at him. He gave her a quick wink before he looked back up at Ross.   
“Guess,” He mouthed and Ross’s eyes widened. He couldn’t have gotten out of there quicker. He shook his head, trying to get the realization out of his head. He walked into the toilet, wrinkling his nose at the smell. Ross went to pee and washed his hands. He almost walked out of the door, but he heard some moans followed by a rather loud thump. Ross walked toward the sound, very much scared about what he would find. He was just curious. The handicap stall was slightly opened, as if shut in a rush. Slowly, Ross pushed open the door only to see Matty’s arse with Lark’s bare legs wrapped around his skinny waist. The two didn’t even realize that someone had walked in, and as quickly as he could, Ross left the toilet. He did not need to see the two singers having sex. Frankly, he wanted to puke.   
Ross moved as quickly as he could back to the booth to round up the others.   
“There you are,” X stated, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Where’d you go, Ress?”  
He laughed to himself before pulling the pink-haired girl off of him.  
“I think it’s time to go,”   
“Already?” Maize pouted. “What about the others?”  
“They’ll find their own way back,” Adam sighed, gripping the auburn haired girl. He lightly pulled her out of the booth and toward where Nirvana and George currently were. The girl sat with a smirk on her face as George looked completely satisfied. “We’re leaving!”   
“We don’t want to,” Nirvana yelled back. “Go on without us!”   
“Okay…” Ross trailed off. “Just grab Matty and Lark before you come back okay?”  
“Don’t worry about it, okay!” George yelled, lighting up another blunt. “We will all get back safe.   
Adam and Ross nodded, dragging the other two girls with them as they left the dirty club. They hailed a cab and got back to their hotel in good time. They all passed on inside of the hotel suite. Ross was the last one to fall asleep, and he heard the other stumble in. As soon as they were there, he was okay to sleep. He was sure they were all there. He was more than okay knowing that everyone was safe. He slept, not well, but he slept. He felt better once he woke up, and started making breakfast. George got up soon after, joining his friend in the kitchen to make everyone a big bunch. Slowly, X and Adam were the next to wake up. She called the coffee shop her parents owned for coffee. It happened to be a block away, so she left to go pick it up. Adam was grateful for the pink-haired girl at that moment. Soon after X got back, Matty and Nirvana woke up. They all exchanged pleasantries, and gathered around the kitchen table in their suite. Maize was the last one to wake up.   
“Hey,” She croaked, walking into the kitchen.   
“Coffee?” X questioned, handing the girl a cup before she could respond. Maize smiled gratefully. “How did everyone sleep,”   
“Good, I guess.” Nirvana asked. “Lark’s being a lazy ass I guess. She hasn’t gotten up.”   
Maize looked confused.   
“She wasn’t in there,” She stated. “Lark wasn’t asleep,”   
“What?” Matty laughed. “She came in last night...I think.”  
Ross’s eyes grew wide.   
“Shit….shit shit!”  
“Where in the hell is Lark?” Nirvana questioned before springing into action.   
It seems that they’ve lost their lead singer and no one knew where she was.


	5. Found

“Matty, I _swear_ if you had anything to do with Lark’s disappearance, I’ll kill you,” Nirvana threatened.

The dazed lead singer looked at the girl who was the closest to his height.

“I didn’t, love.” He stated slowly. “I promise that she was with me when we got in,”

“Is there anywhere that she could be at?” George questioned. Charles was going to kill them if they couldn’t find the lead singer anywhere.  “Why would she have wandered off?”

X looked over at Nirvana. Surely she was thinking the same thing that X was. Lark just _doesn’t_ disappear without a reason. Ever since a few years ago, things have been weird with the lead singer. She became completely closed in, and very unlike herself. Everyone was worried, and finally, after three months she told people what happened. She still can’t handle it sometimes. Lark has good days and bad days. Recently, with the fifth year coming to a close, the bad days were getting worse and worse.

“Fuck,” Nirvana nearly yelled, tugging her hair up again. “Okay, there are three places she could be. We’ve got to separate and look for her. Matty, I need you to go on top of the building on 8th street okay? It’s called Riley’s, it’s her parents record store. Adam and X, check the library. I’ll go check the park. Ross come with me, and Maize and George can stay here in case she shows back up.”

George’s eyes grew larger.

“Is she okay?”

“Maybe,” Maize shrugged.

Maize was upset. She just _knew_ that something bad was going to happen. She felt it, and she wished that she would have tried harder to stand her ground. Lark wouldn’t have left if something didn’t happen. The last year had been awful, to be honest. This type of thing used to happen all of the time. It had grately decreased, but sometimes it just popped back up. This was normal, she supposed. Maize didn’t want it to become a regular occurrence again. It was bad enough that it happened again this time.

“Does this happen a lot?” Ross asked Nirvana as the two made their way toward the park. It was around fifteen minutes away. “I mean… you seem to know something…”

“It happens when Lark freaks out,” Nirvana stated. It wasn’t her story to tell, honestly. “She...just things have happened.”

“Things?” Ross questioned. “What kind of things?”

Nirvana shook her head.

“I’m not telling you, Ross. She has to if she wants anyone to know okay?”

Ross nodded slowly. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he supposed that was what he was getting. He knew that Nirvana wasn’t going to say anything else about it. He realized that it must have been something very personal to them. He didn’t want to intrude. He was just concerned. He was lost in his thoughts as Nirvana bounced her leg up and down rapidly. As soon as the two arrived at the park, she ran out of the taxi as quickly as possible. Ross ran to keep up with her. It didn’t take long for her to realize that Lark wasn’t there. Nirvana cursed under her breath and send a quick text message to X and Maize to let them know what was going on.

X sighed down at her phone before looking back up at Adam. The pair were standing outside of the local library, one of Lark’s safe places. She ushered Adam as they began to look around the entire library. X took the Fiction as Adam walked through the Non-Fiction. While the pink-haired girl was worried that her friend was hurting; Adam was annoyed. It was day two, and they were already running all over Seattle looking for the silver-haired girl. He didn’t know _why_ exactly but it bugged him. He knew this was a bad idea, and already it was being proven right. Why couldn’t they just call the girl to see where she was. Call him selfish, but Adam thought this city-wide search was a pointless feat to try to take on.

“Of course she isn’t here,” He sighed. “Why would she be here?”

X rolled her eyes.

“You know nothing about us, so stop trying to act like you do, okay? It’s already getting old. Secondly, this is one of her favorite places that she’s come to before. So, there,”

“She’s run away here before?” Adam asked furrowing his brows.

The girl bit the inside of her cheeks.

“Show’s how little you know,” She shook her head. “Let’s keep looking.”

Suddenly, Adam didn’t feel so good about it anymore. He felt conflicted as they continued on down the street. They entered into random store along the way back to their hotel. They came up onto a nice building, one that looked rather expensive. X headed straight to the stairs. Adam didn’t question the girl, but followed her anyway. As they entered, X waved to the woman standing at the desk, and hopped right onto the elevator.

“Where are we?”

“Lark’s apartment building,” She stated. “She lives on the twelfth floor.”

“Would she have come back here?”

“Eventually,” X sighed. “She would have needed to get some things, so maybe she’s here. I don’t really know, but it was worth a shot.”

Adam was shocked by just how nice her apartment was.

“She lives here all alone?”

“Yeah,” X replied casually. “But we’re all always together, so it’s no big deal,”

“It’s nice,” He remarked, stepping into the surprisingly clean apartment. The band’s awards were hanging up on her wall and twinkle lights at the top of the wall. “What do we do now?”

“We wait,” She stated, sighing heavily.

Matty didn’t exactly know where he was going. He used his google maps on his iPhone, but that still made him confused. He walked the entire block twice before he finally saw the Record store they were talking about. The Brit quickly realized that the only way up to the top was by climbing from the side.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” He stated out loud to himself. “Larkin?” He called without an answer. Matty rolled his eyes, walking over the side of the building to prepare to use the fire escape to get up to the top. He cursed and nearly fell multiple times before he finally reached the top. He climbed over the top only to land in the gravel. “I hope she loves me for this.” He muttered, standing up and straightening out his clothes. He realized that he now had a good size hole in his pants.

He didn’t see the girl anywhere, but it was a rather big rooftop. He walked around, not seeing her anywhere, until he caught sight of a slight movement. There, the girl was standing.

“Larkin?” Matty called softly, seeing the silver-haired girl leaning against the building’s ledge.

“Matthew,” She called back in a distant voice.

Matty moved closer, ignoring that she called him by his full name.

“Are you okay?” The Brit questioned.

“Am I okay?” She laughed softly. “ _Am I okay?_ You gave me drugs, Matty. How would I be okay after that? Do you even remember what it was that we mixed? I think it was LSD, ecstasy and cocaine,”

Matty nodded his head, standing beside her now.

“It was.” He replied. “I just...we were having fun.”

“That’s not my idea of fun.” She stated, looking down at her hands for a moment. Matty took the time to notice that the girl had a septum piercing. It was a small silver hoop that was barely noticeable. It was cute, he decided. “I feel ashamed. I’m not like this. I don’t sleep with people I barely know.”

He moved his head so that he could look the 5’4” girl in the eyes.

“Hey...it’s okay. It’s okay, I promise. We’re going to be okay, right? Things are going to work out. I won’t do it again, I promise. I am sorry,”

Lark shook her head before looking at him. Her eyes very different from how they were the night before.

“We’re not friends, Matty.” She said. “You don’t _know_ me. We...I can’t do what I did last night. I’m not that girl. That’s not me, this isn’t me. Well...it used to be me, but it’s not anymore… I just...I can’t...we…” She was getting herself worked up, and she really wasn’t trying to.

“Whoa, it’s okay. You don’t owe me anything,” he stated, placing his hand on her shoulder softly. “I...you don’t know me either.”

“I feel like I do,” She shrugged. “That’s how you made your music right? So people could get to know you and fall in love with you,”

“Yeah…” He nodded softly. “That’s why we made the album.”

“So maybe I do know more about you than you think…” She trailed off. “I...thank you. Nirvana sent you, right?”

He nodded his head.

“Yeah, your band….they care about you,” He stated. “Does this happen often?”

Lark laughed humorlessly.

“More often than I’d like. I almost ran before our meeting yesterday,”

“Why?” He questioned.

“You’re a musician right?”

“Yes…” He trailed off. “What kind of question is that?” he laughed.

“Figure it out, Matthew,” She stated. “C’mon. I don’t have my phone with me. We have to go by my house,”

Matty nodded, stepping into the girls space and bending down to give her a kiss. He felt inspired and decided to do whatever the hell he wanted. Lark turned her head and he ended up planting his lips to her cheek. She gave him a look before walking off. Matty had no choice but to actually follow her. She lead him through the buildings instead of having to climb down the side of the fire escape. They walked toward her apartment building. He whistled when they got into the elevator and the girl rolled her eyes at him.

“This is a nice flat.” He stated. “It’s ace.”

“Thanks,” The girl looked confused before opening her front door. Inside, X and Hann were jamming out on guitar hero. “I’m okay,”

“Lark!” X yelled tossing the plastic guitar onto her couch. “You’re okay… fuck… we were worried.”

“Clearly,” the girl teased. “I’m fine. Just got a little too inside my head.”

X chewed on her lip.

“But you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lark sighed.

“Have you taken it yet?”

“I’m about to,” Lark rolled her eyes walking toward her kitchen to fill up a glass of water. She then walked to her bathroom with Matty following her every step of the way. She reached inside of her cabinet, pulling out out a white and orange pill bottle. She pulled open the lid, pouring a small pill into her hand before swallowing it with the water. The girl put back on the lid, pushing the bottle back into the small cabinet and shutting the door. She didn’t notice that Matty had followed her until she caught his eyes in the mirror.

“What was that?” He asked, brows furrowed.

“My happy little pill,” She sighed, walking toward the calendar she had hanging up so that she could mark off taking her pill. It was the first time that she had properly taken it in over a week. “Could you go get my other bottle? It’s in my jacket that I wore last night.”

“What is it?” Matty questioned, leaning against the door frame.

“It’s so I don’t flip my lid,” She sighed heavily. “Please?”

“Your jacket is in my hotel room,” He stated. “You passed out on me.”

“I know,” Lark sighed. “I’ll just go without.”

Something told Matty that was a bad idea.

“Uh...how about we get you back as soon as possible and you take it anyway? If you don’t feel good, you don’t take it tomorrow?”

“Who are you? My psychiatrist?”

                      “Hell no, I can barely handle myself,” He laughed. “Some people just deal with their shit in a different way.”

Lark nodded and walked into her bedroom. Because Matty had no possible concept of personal space, he joined her in her bedroom. He made himself comfortable on the bed whilst the girl went toward her wardrobe. She didn’t say anything, but grabbed her clothes that she chose for the day and changed inside where he couldn’t see her. When she reappeared, she was dressed in a black tank-top, tight black skinnies and flat ankle boots. Again, Matty whistled when she appeared, and the girl rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“No,” he stated, eyes crinkling.

Lark said nothing more as she walked out of her room with the British man in tow. Adam and X were now talking quietly amongst themselves with guitar hero stuffed away. Adam turned to look at the two, and instantly he saw it. He saw the look that made him already dread the tour. He saw the look that caused a lot of hurt within his friends life. He saw that joyous, painfully obvious smile on Matty’s face. Adam knew that they were all screwed. He could already tell that Lark wasn’t much into relationships, or human beings in general. This wasn’t going to end well, he decided.

They were all going to be screwed because Matthew Healy was already falling in love with the silver-haired girl, and she could care less.

**  
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⇈⇊

**  
**  
  
  
  


“There she is!” Matty stated as Maize walked into the room. The rest of the bands were there and ready to load up for their first tour together. “Where has my little pumpkin been?” He asked.

Lark rolled her eyes and Nirvana scoffed. X just looked between everyone, and was pretty oblivious as to what was going on.

“She’s been trying to get ready on a bus full of girls,” She said, moving her auburn hair off of her shoulder. “It’s not easy, okay?”

“Oh, love,” Matty stated, pressing a kiss to the girl’s forehead. She blushed under his lips and it made the girls want to gag.

Of course Matty kept his affections to a minimum, but it was still there. X was a little sick of seeing Maize blushing and giggling all of the time. Nirvana rolled her eyes because she was aware of what game Matty was playing. She herself was playing the game. She had spent the last few weeks switching between George’s bed and Matty’s. Though, no one knew because the girl was careful and threatened to cut their balls off if they told. She was having fun, and she didn’t want to _completely_ break Maize’s heart.  

    Adam was actually surprised to see Matty back off of Lark quickly. The man still looked at the silver-blonde the same way, but he was much more forward with Maize. She was the one that was getting the public affections, but Hann had a feeling that more than one girl was getting Matty’s attention. It was still annoying. The girls, however, have proven that they can hold their own. He was rather okay with touring with them now. It was interesting.

George wrapped his arm around Nirvana’s shoulders. He winked down at the raven-haired girl before looking back straight ahead. The girl just gave him a blank look before shrugging his shoulder off and moving on forward with the bands. They were giving their first press conference of the tour, and it just kicked off last night in Dublin. George was glad that they decided to take Weekend Misery out on tour with them, well despite the awkward tension between Matty, Lark, Maize and somehow Nirvana. He figured it was because the girl seemed to hate everyone. He wasn’t that aware of the girl’s nightly activities.

As if proving a point, Lark pushed in front of the supposed couple, bumping Matty’s shoulder rather hard with her own.

            “Oh sorry, I didn’t see you there,” She rolled her eyes walking on. Lark didn’t play nice, and Maize knew that. Of course, she thought that this certain Lark was gone. Apparently not. “Nirvanaaaa.”

“Yes, love?” Nirvana laughed.

“Let’s go write some music.”

“Okay,” the girl shrugged. “We have to wait.”

“Fuck that,” Lark stated. “I need a notebook and paper!”

“Chill,” Ross laughed. “There should be some at the station.

“Good,” Lark stated, linking her arm with her best friend. “Let’s write the best fucking song ever,”

“Okay.” Nirvana shrugged, agreeing easily with her best friend.

Maize looked hurt as her two friends walked off far ahead of them. Beside her, X moved forward.

“Does she hate me or something?”

“I’d definitely go with the later. I don’t know what’s going on with them either,”

“It’s stupid,”

“Ignore it,” Matty stated, winking at the girl. “She’s just being a girl.”

“Wow,” X laughed. “Okay, Matty.”

Ross linked his arm with the pink-haired girl.

“Let’s go on ahead.” He stated, pulling the girl away from the others. Adam had to roll his eyes but he motioned for George to follow him as they walked toward the entrance.

“I didn’t do something wrong did I?” Maize asked, looking like a kicked puppy.  

                      “No, babe.” He sighed. “Go on ahead, okay?”

“Okay…” She trailed off, pressing a small kiss to his lips. “I’ll see you inside okay?”

Matty nodded, not bothering to reply to the girl as she walked on inside. He liked Maize, honestly. She was cute. She was talented, and she certainly was a lot of fun, in private of course. He liked her, but he wasn’t exactly in love with her yet. Matty could easily see himself falling in love with the girl, if he wasn’t already hung up on someone else, of course. Sure he had only known the girls for a few weeks, but he adored them all. He adored them at different levels of course, and well, Maize wasn’t exactly aware of that. She’s the naive one, and that’s how Matty liked them sometimes. He liked them to be shy and cute.

_Bathroom. Second left, third stall, furthest from the door. I’m waiting ;)_

     And well, sometimes Matty liked the ones that could get down and dirty.

 


	6. Dirty

           "Are you sure that you're not really involved with her?" Lark asked as Matty pressed open-mouth kisses down her neck before latching onto her collar bone.

           "Positive, Love." Matty sighed, pulling away only long enough to answer her. "It's nothing, okay?"

     Lark said nothing more as the man continued to make her weak in the knees. Despite telling the singer that they weren't friends, Lark found herself loving their alone time. More often than not, this is how they would end up. They would end up with Matty gripping the girl tightly in his arms and her limbs wrapped around him. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that this wasn't okay. Her brain kept yelling at her to stop. She worried about Maize, and even though Matty said nothing was going on it seemed like there was.

           "Shhhhhh!" Lark hushed Matty was he let out a rather loud moan. "Quiet, Matthew,"

           "I love it when you call me that," he mumbled before kissing her rather hard. Normally, Lark would hate it, but she took a small pill from George. She was rather loose about it all.

     When they finished, the younger girl made sure to wash her hands, braid her hair and spray more perfume on herself. She didn't want the others to know. She couldn't let them found out.

           "That was fun," She simply stated.

           "When can we go again?" Matty asked, smirking at the girl through the mirror as he buttoned up his blood red shirt. Naturally he only uses three of the buttons so his chest was rather exposed. Matty loved Lark, he thought. He was pretty crazy about the girl and they always had an interesting time together. Although, more often than not she became withdrawn and distant when they were done. He wished that she would spend all of her time with him. Matty knew it wasn't going to happen, but he could hope.

             "Honestly, I don't know," She sighed.

     Matty hated when she sighed. That meant something bad, he's realized.

             "I guess I can manage," He retorted, smirk still present.

     Lark rolled her eyes and left without another word. That's why he loved the silver-haired lead singer. She didn't give him answer instantly or when he desired her to. It was nice, he decided. The lead singer messed with his curly hair a little bit before deciding to walk on out of the bathroom. What he didn't know was that George was standing outside waiting for him.

             "Mate!" He laughed. "I've been waiting for a bloody half hour."

             "I would apologize but I don't care,"

    George rolled his eyes.

             "So, you and Lark?"

    Matty huffed.

            "We're not a thing. She's just a fuck. Bloody fantastic if you know what I mean. She's flexible, G"

     George wiped a fake tear from his eye.  

            "How romantic," he stated. "I thought you were with Maize?"

           "Maize and I aren't dating, tosser," he laughed. "She's just a body to hold, alright?"

           "Slut," George snickered but the two continued on toward the end of the building that the press conference was being held. Inside, the rest of The 1975 were already sitting down. The girls of Weekend Misery were leaning against the wall. They were to go second after all. Nirvana was blowing bubbles with her purple coloured gum. Neither George nor Matty realized it, but they were both staring at the same girl and thinking along the lines of the same thing. Though Matty loved Lark,  and enjoyed Maize, he was rather fond of the girl with waist long black hair. If it were any of the girls he would have liked to be his next girlfriend, it probably would be Nirvana. She just fit with him. She was tall, maybe an inch or two shorter than he was. She had the curvy, almost model-like frame. She was just s _exy_ , and Matty couldn't help but lust after her. He wanted her.

     George, however, felt a little differently about her than Matty did. George wanted to just be around the girl, and well fuck her a few times too, but he wanted to be her friend. He meant it when he said that he could tell they would be best friends. Nirvana was just a tough one to crack. She always appeared emotionless or like she was up to something. He was sure that she was, and he wanted to be a part of it. He genuinely wanted to be around her.

     On the other side, X noticed the two men staring in Nirvana's direction. How Maize never noticed how Matty looked at other women, X didn't know. Although, the drummer insisted that they were nothing more than good friends. Maize has never lied about something like that before, so X believed her. But X was not blind to what was going on. She didn't have the details but she figured that the drummer and lead singer had to have had sex by now. Matty looked like the type and Maize was no virgin. Despite her disposition, the girl somewhat got around. She wasn’t innocent.

Ross looked over at the girls and noticed instant tension. If they knew or not, something was going on and they were distancing themselves from each other. He didn’t care though, instead he tried to focus his attention on the girl with pastel pink hair. Ross was _smitten_. He didn’t care how fast it happened; it just did. He liked to spend time with her, and she was good company. They bonded quickly over being the bass players. They liked the same bands, and frankly, she was very pretty.

He knew that Matty’s infatuation with Lark would get worse. He wasn’t blind, and just knew that he was still pining after the singer that shot him down. The band, well except for Hann, had heard all about his wild night with the girl and her refusal to be nice to him the following day. Lark was playing the cold shoulder, and Matty just ate it up. It made Ross want to roll his eyes. He didn’t understand why Matty fell in love so quickly. He didn’t understand why he seemed to fall in love with girls years younger than him either. It must have been a type that he required. Matty likes being challenged, which is probably why Maize doesn’t stand a chance.

“Ross,” Adam elbowed the man after they finished their interview. “You’re weirdly fucking quiet,”

Ross rolled his eyes.

“No, Matty just never fucking shuts up,”

“Love you too, Rossy-poo!” Matty yelled from in front of them where George was currently giving him a piggy-back ride through the venue.

“It’s true, wanker!” Ross yelled back, laughing before he turned back toward his best friend. “I was just getting a bit in my own head, ya know?”

“Yeah,” Adam sighed. “This tour is already the most fucking stressful thing,”

“I know,” Ross nodded in agreement. “Is something bothering  _you?_ ”

Adam shook his head. Truthfully, no. Nothing was currently bothering him. He was just asking Ross, considering the man had rarely talked. He looked like he was off in some other world, and wasn’t coming back down anytime soon. Adam felt like it was his personal duty to tend to his friend. If he didn’t do it, nobody would and then Ross would be completely lost.

“Not really,” Adam finally answered. “I’m content, I think?”

“So there’s nothing at all bothering you?”

“Nope,” Adam shrugged.

Ross left it at that and moved toward the girl bass player walking just a few steps in front of him.

“Hey, X...wait up!”

**  
  
  
  
  
  
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⇈⇊

**  
  
  
  
**

“This isn’t my idea of fun,” Ross laughed, being pressed tightly in the tour bus closet.

X wiggled her eyebrows.

“Where in the hell is your sense of adventure, MacDonald?”

“Apparently I left it in my early twenties,” He replied, rolling his eyes. “But you wouldn’t know about that would you?”

“Oh so now we’re throwing out age jokes, are we Gramps?” X countered.

“X why are we here?” Ross sighed heavily, leaning his head away from hers. “You’ve stuck us in a bloody closet,”

The girl rolled her eyes and slowly lifted her eyes. She left her fingertips drag across his skin, and the older male shuddered underneath her touch. A small smirk placed itself on her lips. X would be lying if she said that she was experienced. They girls in Weekend Misery formed too early for her to really get involved with anyone. Out of all the girls, X used to be the most focused. The girl managed their shows, kept up with their social media, and went to get her GED while Lark and Maize were in high school. Nirvana was somewhere else, but that’s another story for another day. X simply didn’t have time, and this was new territory. She was holding her own though.

“Why _are_  we here?” She smirked, pressing a ghost of a kiss on Ross’ chest before making her way up his neck. Suddenly, the twenty-five-year old was trying to focus. Suddenly, he understood why Matty got involved with Gemma, and now apparently Maize. It was thrilling. There was something about their, barely legal, age gap that excited Ross. She was young, attractive and currently pressed against him in the small space.

“C’mere,” Ross whispered, moving to grip the back of her neck, and bring her lips up to meet his. The second he did, Ross was ready for more. He knew in that moment that X would become his new addiction, if he let her. He was going to have to deeply think about it, as he’s a man. He has things to take care of that a ninteen-year old can’t. As the kiss continued to get more heated, Ross let his arms roam. He didn’t have much room, but he had enough to place his hands on her skin that was peeking from under her shirt. Just the movement called X to shiver and grip the front of his vest.

Seconds after Ross got his hands to the front of her jeans, as he felt that was where they were headed, X pulled away. She pulled away and looked up at him with wide eyes.

“I...I’m so sorry, Ross.” X stated before she moved as quickly as she could out of the small space. Ross was left standing there with a confused expression. His bulge in the front of his pants was both proof of how excited he was and how long it had been since he had gotten laid. He thought for a split second that maybe a groupie would do. However, he tossed that idea out of the window when he knew that X would find out. He didn’t want to hurt her _feelings_. After all, she was just a teenager.

 

“Fuck!” George nearly yelled, pulling out and flopping beside Nirvana. “You’re just a bloody teenager, and you can do _that_  already. Shit.”

Nirvana smirked, gripping the small sheet inside of his bunk.

“That’s not the only thing I can do,”

George smirked, sitting up, and ruffling her hair.

“Roll one yeah?”

The dark haired girl just rolled her eyes but turned to roll a joint anyway. She wouldn’t have minded one, especially after sex with the drummer. She was lucky that he was so willing to have sex and share weed. You couldn’t have them like that anymore, she was convinced.

“Here,” She stated after taking the first puff.

“Thanks,” He replied, taking it from here.

The bunk fell silent, and they just stared at the end of the bunk.

“Are Maize and Matty a thing?” She asked.

“No,” George laughed. “Matty hasn’t done an actual relationship in a long time. He’s avoiding them really,”

George opted out of telling the girl that Matty and Lark were fucking very casually and apparently on a regular basis. He figured that it would ruin things for his best friend, and honestly a distracted Matty was best. If Matty was distracted, George could get closer to Nirvana, Matty could avoid heartbreak and they would still have a lot of sick new material to work with.

“Cool,” She shrugged, taking the blunt from George. “You’re cool, I think,”

George smirked over at her.

“Thanks,”

“You’re welcome,” Nirvana whispered before kissing a long kiss on his shoulder blade. “Are you ready to go again?”

“Woman,” He laughed. “Well, child.”

“You’re the one fucking one.” She stated blankly.

“Don’t put it like that!” George nearly yelled, laughing. “Are you ready?”

                      “Yeah,” She shrugged, appearing emotionless.

George understood why men loved Nirvana. He had ran into Weekend Misery fan sites and she was the one that people lusted after. George figured that he’d call himself lucky to spend whatever amount of time with her he had left. She was going to leave him, he knew that much. He just wished that he knew when. He wished he knew how long that the interactions are going to continue before she decides to stop. He hoped all tour, but then again, it was highly unlikely. Until then, he’d just spend the rest of his time in and around her.

**  
  
**

_There we final the introductions, and the scene has been set._

_The two bands have come together, they’ve finally met._

__

_Heartbreaking secrets, and terrible lies_

_No wonder why they’ll get caught in a web like flies._

__

_One stirs up trouble_

_One likes attention_

_One wants to have sex_

_One just wants someone to listen._

__

_Maybe the lads are just as mangled,_

_Keep following them as their lives get even more tangled._

 


	7. Trio

“I’ll see you later, yeah?” Matty asked, smirking down at the raven-haired girl as she caught her breath. He had already gotten dressed.

The girl looked up at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.

“No,” She stated. “Not tonight. Not until another three days, Matty. You know my rules,”

“Can’t blame a boy for trying,” He winked at the girl, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers in a messy fashion. He would have ruffled her hair, but they weren’t affectionate. They just happened to be sexually involved. Matty did wish for something more though. He wished for something, _someone_ , to love him just as much as he thought that he loved them. He knew that it would never be Nirvana. The girl was too strong-headed and seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him for the most part. He supposed this was okay; this was easy. It was painless in a sense. Neither of them got their feelings hurt, or felt too much. Matty knew how to block things out; he’d been doing a damn good job all these years. At least, he’d say he was but everyone close to him disagreed.

Matty left without waiting for Nirvana to reply. He knew that she wouldn’t, plus Weekend Misery was going onstage soon, and she had to properly get ready. He discreetly made his way from the girl-band’s tour bus. No one saw him as he crossed the parking lot, and got back into the venue. As soon as he rounded the corner, he found Maize talking to Adam. Understanding how panicked Matty was, Adam attempted to distract Maize. He started to ask the girl questions and it gave the singer time to disappear. He counted himself lucky. He should have gotten caught.

“Matty?” X laughed. “What are you doing?”

Matty’s eyes grew very wide.

“Sh!” He hushed quickly. “Bloody hell, X.”

“Sorry?” She whispered back. “Why are we whispering?”

“Follow me,” He rolled his eyes as he turned the corner. They finally reached The 1975’s dressing room. “Where’s Ross?”

X shrugged, and Matty found that odd. The two bass players had been pretty inseparable since the beginning. They had really hit it off, he thought. X wondered why Matty was trying to figure it out, but she wrote it off as curiosity.

“I guess he’s in here,” X stated, sounding far off. “What about you? Why were you running from Maize?”

“I wasn’t...exactly running from her,” He supplied. “Well, I was, but I wasn’t trying to be all weird about it,”

“Because running away from someone isn’t totally awkward?” X raised an eyebrow.

The male rolled his eyes and lead the two of them through the door instead of answering her question. Inside, Ross was no where to be found, and George was sitting alone on the couch. Matty flopped down instantly, putting his head on his taller friend’s lap. X looked around the room, looking at George and Matty, as if asking for approval.

“X, it’s a bloody couch,” Matty laughed. “Just sit, yeah?”

“You alright?” George asked her, reaching over and gripping her hand. “Are you sure?”

X furrowed her brows.

“I haven’t….answered yet, George…”

“Oh, I assumed you were upset about Ross.”

“What about Ross?” Matty asked, suddenly sitting up quickly.

“Uh...well he disappeared about an hour ago with some girl to fuck.” George stated bluntly. At least he didn’t beat around the bush. He preferred that over hurting people more if he kept it a secret.  “They’ve been gone a while.”

“Oh….cool,” X shrugged. She stayed staring at the two men before she pulled her pink hair until a small bun. “Gillean do you have a joint?”

“Do I?” He laughed. “Yeah, I do...what’s in it for me?”

The girl thought a little bit before looking up at both men again.

“What do you want, G?” She asked honestly. Right that moment, X didn’t care about the honest answer.

George just smirked.

           “If you weren’t so mental about  Roan…” The male trailed off. “Hey...follow me, yeah?”

X was apprehensive as Matty and the drummer stood up slowly. She nodded her head and took the drummer’s hand that he was offering in her own. Matty looked back at the pair and winked at them. He lead the two way back into another room in the venue. The room was a supposed third dressing one, but they were the only two bands currently on the tour. He looked around and knocked a few times before checking the door. It was completely unlocked. He pushed it open and turned on the light to reveal a few couches, and tables. The room even had it’s own toilet.

“We can get pretty creative in here,” He stated. “Weed first or?”

X chewed on her bottom lip as she explored her options. The girl didn’t have intentions on following through, but she realized that she should’ve backed out already if she wasn’t going to. She looked between the two men and shrugged.

“Screw it,” She stated simply. “Weed,”

And well George was down for that, and he went down for something else. It was shaping up to be a wild night. X would be lying if she said that she didn’t get turned on when George made out with Matty right in front of her, and that set the course for the three of them. They were reckless, making a huge mess everywhere. Smoke swirled and overtook the room as did the smell of sweat. They were having the best time ever. When the time ran out, exhaustion settled in, and they realized that they had to get back to their green room.

“Well that was fun, love.” George spoke to X with a cigarette lightly hanging from his lips. “You’re a ride.”

X blushed.

“In more ways than one,” Matty winked, causing the pink-haired girl to go even redder. They didn’t know that was possible, but it proved it was. “C’mon,”

X nodded slowly and followed the shorter singer out of the room that they trashed. George followed slowly behind him, resting his hands on her shoulders. As soon as the trio entered the green room, Adam looked up at them from his guitar. His eyes grew wider, and he looked at a loss for words. His mouth slowly dropped open.

“Careful, mate,” George laughed. “You trying to catch bugs or something?”

Adam slowly shook his head no, and was about to say something with a mystery girl walked through the green room. She was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of male boxers.

“Oh….hi.” She stated slowly, Irish accent coming through. “I just came to get a bit for Ross and meself.” X chewed on her bottom lip before making a bolt for the door. As soon as she was gone, the mystery woman looked around at everyone else. “Did I do something? Is the lass coming back?”

George’s heart hurt for the short bass player. He didn’t want _that_ to happen to the lovely girl. She didn’t deserve to be treated the way that Roan just treated her. Maybe it was the weed, but Gillean decided to go after the girl. He walked down the halls, calling her name. He turned a corner and nearly ran straight into Nirvana.

“What are you doing?” She snapped.

“Sorry….” He trailed off. “Have you seen X?”

“She went to the bus...why?”

“No reason,” He shrugged. “Where have you been?”

Nirvana just shrugged.

“Around, I guess.”

“That’s cool,” George retorted, just half shrugging. “Well, I’m off.”

“Okay…” she trailed off as the tall blonde made his way through the venue. She wouldn’t admit it, but it really did urk her that George was running off to find her friend. She wanted his attention, but it looked as if George had clearly gotten attention from someone.

X was sitting down on the curb outside of the venue. The girl didn’t even make it to the bus. She was looking up at the sky and pretty much avoiding people. Seeing the girl that Ross was with made X realize just how _young_ she was. Ross didn’t want her, of course he didn’t. She was a stupid kid that thought age was just a number. She had just clicked so well with him that she didn’t see the issue. Apparently Ross saw a huge one, so much so that he went out to find a different solution.

             "Why are you so grim, love?" George asked, sitting down beside her. His long legs bent, and his arm around her shoulder. "Wasn't that fun?" He chuckled to himself lightly.

            "I shouldn't have done that," X sighed. "I'm a foolish kid who made a very bad decision."

    He furrowed his brows.

             "What does that mean? I thought it was a bit of fun?"

    X chewed on her bottom lip again. It was beginning to be an issue.

             "That uh.... It was... The first," she trailed off, looking down. For the first time in a while, X felt ashamed of herself. She was ashamed of how she acted.

    It took George a moment before he caught onto what the pink haired girl was saying. His eyes grew wide just like Adam's did.

             "Christ," He huffed. "No, I'm so fucking sorry, X. I wouldn't have done it if I knew."

             "Really?" She questioned, eyes searching his. "That does mean more to me than you know."

             "So.... That bird in there..."

             "Screw her," X spat. "Ross can do whoever he pleases. I'm not bitter."

             "Careful love. It's showing," He winked playfully. "You're alright, kid."

     X rolled her eyes at him.

            "You're not so bad yourself, old man."

            "If you ever need a distraction or a friend.... I'm here for you," George stated, extending his other arms as to offer a hug. To both of their surprise, X leaned into his embrace and they stayed there for a little too long. It was _nice_ , they thought.

Inside the venue, Adam was still staring toward Matty as Maize entered the room. She was bubbly and smiley like she always was. She walked over to Matty and gripped him in a small hug before moving to Adam. She was about to walk back over to Matty when Nirvana and Lark entered the dressing room. Maize wanted to roll her eyes. She could never get alone time with the singer anymore, but it was pissing her off.

“Adam, we need professional advice.” Lark huffed, placing her hands on her hips. Matty raised an eyebrow. This was a side of Lark that he hadn’t seen sober.

“Okay?” He questioned, looking confused.

“Okay.” Nirvana sighed. “Should female guitarist wear any form of heel while they’re on stage?”

Adam laughed, looking between the two.

“You’re joking right?” He questioned, but neither of them answered him. “Christ, this is for real?”

“We just want your honest opinion, Hann.” Lark stated, flipping her silvery hair off of her shoulder.

Nirvana rolled her eyes playfully at her best friend.

“Uh….no?” He replied uncomfortably. “That is...unless you feel comfortable?”

“Knew it,”

“Truth,”

The girls agreed, high fiving each other before taking out their phones.

“What was that about?” Matty asked curiously, walking over toward the pair.

“We were discussing if platforms were a great idea while playing a set,” Nirvana explained. “We said no,”

Lark sighed dramatically.

“But our friends highly disagreed. So we decided to get into a small debate to see who was right. They brought their boyfriends into it, and everything.”

“So you asked Adam?” Maize laughed. “Why?”

“Because he’s a guitar player, M.” Nirvana stated, giving her friend a slightly snarky look. “Who else would we ask?”

“You could have asked me,” Matty supplied.

“No.” The silver-haired girl stated flatly. “Absolutely not,”

“I’m afraid that I’m with Larkin on this one,” Nirvana stated.

Maize rolled her eyes at the two girls before she walked toward the snack table. She grabbed an apple to eat before the show. She wanted to ask where Bexley was, but she decided against it. She just assumed that the girl was on the bus because she certainly wasn’t in their dressing room. She noticed that George and Ross were missing as well, but again, Maize would rather not get an honest answer. Honestly, anything as possible in this tour.

As if hearing her thoughts, X and George made their way back into The 1975’s dressing room. They were leaning into each other, and looking quite cozy. X only reached George’s shoulder, and it was rather cute. Maize thought that they looked adorable together. Well until she noticed the not-so nice glare that Nirvana was sending them. She found it odd, as Nirvana doesn’t like anyone really. She never got attached, and she always had been one step ahead. Maybe, Maize realized, that she never saw this one coming.

George and X were laughing to themselves as the rest of the group talked. However, they all stopped once Ross walked into the room. He wasn’t wearing the same clothes from earlier and Adam assumed that he lead the girl out of the back entrance. He stopped as soon as he saw how close George was to X. He wasn’t okay with that, at all. Sure, he couldn’t justify his actions, but he thought that the girl liked him. Sure, she was a bit of a tease, but he thought they had connected.

                   “We...we better get ready,” Lark stated, noticing the obvious tension. “I...we’ve got a set to do,”

                     “Yeah,” Nirvana nodded in agreement as they headed toward the door.

                     “Good luck,” Adam called after them, but he didn’t get a response.

Matty was about to say something, but Maize pressed her lips to his quickly. Matty, being the romantic that he is, caressed her cheeks softly before letting her go.

“Have a good show, love.” He said as he watched the girl walk out of the room.

X knew that something was going on between the two of them, and that made her feel worse. She felt like she had to tell Maize, but there was something inside of her that made her stop herself. George was laughing about something that Adam just said and it shook her out of her thoughts long enough to realize that she was the only girl left.

“I guess I better go now, huh?” X asked mostly to herself.

George knocked his hip with her’s. Well, he tried to, but she was much smaller than he was.

“Just find me after the show, yeah?”

“Yeah,” X smiled up at the tall drummer. He was smirking down at her, and before she knew how to respond, he was pressing a hard kiss to her mouth. She let it, even moved her lips with his for a moment before pulling back. X was blushing as she waved toward the other members.

She left quickly, but not before seeing the look on Ross’ face.

**That would be the look that haunted her dreams.**


	8. Week Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that it's been a while. Welcome back I guess?

“London!” Lark yelled into her microphone as they finished up one of their songs. “You have got to be one of the loudest fucking crowds we’ve had.”

“You sexy mother fuckers!” Nirvana yelled into her mic as X gave a bit of bass guitar and Maize crashed.

“We have been incredibly honored to open up of The 1975! Give them a shout!” Lark yelled. The crowd went wild, and it caused her to laugh. “So this is one of my favorite songs off of our second album that we released a couple of months ago. Sing along if you know the words. It’s called Call Me Up.”  
Lark and Nirvana started to play their guitars rather hard. They guys were standing side stage for the first time to watch the band that they were touring with play.

I think you’re lovely enough to put up with it all.  
But, baby, let’s don’t call this love  
See I’m not trying to fall  
So sweet that you make me sick  
Honey, honey I’m on to your tricks  
I know just what’s going down  
When you come around

Lark moved back a little bit with her guitar to jam before going into the chorus.

You call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine  
Call your bluff, not this time

Nirvana smirked, looking at the crowd and how they were reacting. Of course they would, they weren’t the ugliest girls in the world, and their music rocked. Plus, every Brit loves a loud-mouth, sassy girl.

“Yeah!” X yelled into her microphone before Lark continued to sing.

You take her out on those dates  
Then you come back to my place  
You’re saying now she’s not your type  
Then you’re back out that night.

You call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine  
Call your bluff, not this time

Call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine  
Call your bluff, not this time

“This next part I want you to scream it as loud as you can, okay ladies?!” Lark yelled, taking her red electric guitar off of her body. Matty was tempted to walk out there and grab it himself instead of the tech, but he figured that would cause a scene. So that’s exactly what he did. The crowd roared the second the front-man stepped out onto the stage. Lark looked a little confused until he was out there, gripping the guitar from her hands. With his other, he gripped the microphone like only a rock star could.

“Give it up for Weekend Misery!” He yelled before handing it back to the girl and walking off stage. “Here you go, mate.” He said as he handed the guitar to her tech. He looked annoyed but moved out of the way anyway.

“This is how it goes okay?! Yell ‘Keep your hands off me, I’m not your beauty queen!’ GO!” She yelled and they crowd did as she told. Lark repeated them and instructed for them to continue. “Fucking perfect! Let’s GO!” She yelled as she jumped back into the song.

Keep your hands off me  
I’m not your beauty queen  
I know you like ‘em long and lean  
and on the edge of seventeen

She danced around the stage until she walked toward the very edge.

Just forget my name  
And all your stupid games  
I know you like to drive my car and  
Drive me far, straight to insane

Lark bent down so that she was crouching on the edge, singing right to the fans.

Call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine  
Call your bluff, not this time

Call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine  
Call your bluff, not this time

Call me up when you’re feeling uninspired  
Call me out just to get a little higher  
I’m not yours, baby, you’re not mine

Call me up, not this time

When the song ended, the crowd went crazy. The song had quickly became a crowd favorite, and the guys could see why. Ross didn’t know why the girls haven’t chosen it as a new single. It was easily one of the best that they had played that night. Matty was right about the band though, he thought. Ross just wasn’t too sure about their personalities anymore. He was hurt because of X. He was sure that the girl didn’t mean to, though. That simple fact made it hurt worse. She didn’t know she was hurting him until it was a little too late. Now they were left in some weird cross-fire where they avoided each other. It shouldn’t have been like this but it was. He didn’t feel like standing there any longer, so he left.

George was too busy staring at Nirvana to notice that Ross had left. He was mesmerized by how the female played the guitar. He watched as her fingers expertly guided along the neck, and the way her body moved with it. He didn’t even notice Matty going back out on the stage to give Lark her guitar. He did more than give it to her, he put it on her and pulled her hair from underneath the strap. He was sure he was dreaming, but he thought he saw Matty place a quick kiss on the back of her neck before letting her hair down. George was sure he was wrong. Matty wouldn't do that in front of Maize, literally.

Adam loved Weekend Misery. He didn't think he would but he was loving almost everything about their set. They were entertaining and talented. They didn't use too much banter to entertain the crowd. That was nice to see in a girl-band, well any band in general. He felt odd that Ross left. Obviously he had either talked to X or realized something happened with her and George. In fact, the tall drummer was still messing around with the pink-haired girl. That was strange, Adam thought. He was sure that G was caught up in Nirvana. He seemed to have been proven wrong. Adam wasn't wrong very often.

"I fuckin love them," Matty said to his friends. "I love it,"

George rolled his eyes.

"Matt, chill,"

"Can't really mate," he laughed, a playful grin on his lips. "Could you distract Maize for me, Hann?"

"Or you could actually spend time with her?" George posed. "I thought you liked the bird."

"He does, but he wants some time with Lark." Adam supplied. He was oh so tired of everyone going into circles. It was making him dizzy.

"I doubt she wants to do anything after a show,” George stated.

Matty didn't feel he deserved a response. He just shrugged his shoulders.  
"Who said that I wanted to?"

Adam wished that Matty didn't just shrug. He wanted Matty to say something to George about it. Adam wanted George to stand up and tell Matty that this was wrong. Matty needed a wake up call, however the drummer just turned back toward the stage. Adam sighed as he accepted that he, indeed, would be the one to distract Maize for the evening. He didn't mind the girl; he minded why Matty needed him to spend time with the girl. He cared too much about everyone surviving. He didn't want them all to crash and burn.

When Weekend Misery walked off the stage, Matty’s arm went right around Lark’s shoulders as if it were completely normal. Though, no one had seen it happen. George linked his arm with X’s instead of going straight to Nirvana. No one noticed, but the girl glared at the two as they walked in front of her. She would have to devise a way to get George alone, really. It wouldn’t be easy, she admitted. Before Maize could get away, Adam lightly gripped the girl’s wrist. She turned around, confused, until she saw Adam.

“Oh, hey,” She smiled. “What are you doing?”

Adam furrowed his brows. He hadn’t thought about that.

“I just wanted to know if you wanted to go get ice-cream,” He said. “You like ice-cream, don’t you?”  
Maize slowly nodded.

“Can I change?”

“You can wear some of my clothes,” Adam cut in quickly. He knew that Matty wouldn’t be stupid enough to go back to the bus. That was too much of a risk. No, he assumed that the pair would be around the venue, getting into trouble. He didn’t peg Lark for the type though, and that confused him. He just figured that the girl was awkward. He didn’t think she’d give into Matty, but the boy tried. He tried very hard.

“Okay…” Maize trialed off. “To the bus then?”

“Of course,” Adam smiled, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder before guiding her. Maize was happy, he assumed. She was smiling and talking his ear off. He didn’t know what it was about Amercian girls and English boys, but they couldn’t stop. Not that he minded, he quite enjoyed her company. He lead the two onto the bus and back toward his bunk. He reached in and quickly grabbed a pair of his favourite gym shorts, joggers, and two t-shirts.

“Where’s the bathroom?” She laughed.

“It’s kinda gross, honestly.” Adam stated. “We haven’t cleaned it in like a week.”

“Oh please, I live with three girls,” She rolled her eyes. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Okay…” Adam trailed off, laughing.

They got to the bathroom and quickly pushed the door open only to see George and X tangled around each other on the bathroom sink.

“Fuck!” George yelled. “Get out, Hann!”

Adam’s eyes grew wider.

“Sorry!” He yelled, shutting the door. Maize stood beside him with her eyes wide open from shock. She didn’t know that her bandmate was involved with any of the lads. X was always just around Ross. “I...uh…”

“Its okay…” Maize trailed off. “I just...X isn’t like that.”

“Apparently she is,” Adam rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.  
Maize knew that X was a virgin, so it didn’t sit well with her that she saw the pink-haired girl like that. She was just so confused. X didn’t sleep with people. X didn’t do anything with anyone, yet there she was in all her naked glory with George. Maize’s brain was going haywire. It just didn’t make sense.

“Where can we change?” She asked instead.

“In the back lounge,” He sighed, walking through the doorway and into the empty lound. As soon as they both were inside, they changed their clothes. Adam tried to look away, but Maize wasn’t ugly. She was gorgeous and he might have taken a peak. The girl was beside him and putting on his clothes, so he figured it was okay. It made him feel like a creep, honestly. “There...now are we ready?”

Maize smiled at Adam.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“You look cute,” He chuckled before moving her hair from underneath the collar of his white v-neck. It hung off of her in such a way that her collarbones were exposed and he could see her black bra through the thin material. “Let’s get outta here,”

“Deal,” She smiled. “We’ve only got an hour before you guys go on, right?”

“Right,” He laughed.

“Why did you change?”

Adam sighed, not having thought about that either.

“I just got uncomfortable,” He lied. “Let’s go,”

“Okay,” The girl nodded in agreement, not questioning his response in the slightest.

⇈⇊  
“You’re fantastic,” Ross sighed, looking at X as she finished a song that she was playing on an acoustic guitar. “Where did you learn?”

“My second grade teacher,” She shrugged. “Thank you,”

“No problem,” He laughed.

Ross would be lying if he said that the last few weeks hadn’t been awkward. X knew that something had changed, she wasn’t dumb. Ross just felt bad that he had reacted the way that he did after their closet incident, and when the drummer of his band had kissed her. Now he noticed that George would hang off of the girl, and that really got on his nerves. He wanted to be the only one that close to her.

“Ross?”

“Yeah?” He sighed, blinking before really looking at her.

“You’re staring into space again,” She retorted, placing the guitar down beside of her.

Ross just shrugged, taking in her features. He missed being this close to the girl.

“Is that a problem?”

“Guess not…” She trailed off. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” He replied, pressing his lips into a tight line. “Just thinking too much.”

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” She laughed.

It took him a moment, but he was slowly noticing a darkened mark on the bottom side of her neck, very close to her shoulder. He stared at it for a little too long, as X slowly brought her hand up to cover it up.

“It was George, wasn’t it?” He questioned, looking into her eyes. “You’ve been messing about, yeah?”

X stiffened.

“So what if we have been?”

“That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Unbelievable,”

The pink haired girl shook her head.

“No, you’re the one being unbelievable. You’re actually upset because I’m hooking up with George… when you’re the one hooking up with random groupies?” She shot back. “How is that fair?”

“Why is it fair that George is getting your attention?!”

“Because he didn’t fucking freak out and stop talking to me,” X spat, standing up. “Grow some balls, MacDonald,”

Ross rolled his eyes, and let the girl walk out of the band’s back lounge and off of the bus. He wished that he never noticed the mark at all. He wished that the girl was still sitting beside him, playing music and messing about. He liked her as a friend as well as finding her attractive. That’s what confused him as well. He wasn’t sure he liked her, liked her. Ross was just bloody confused, and yeah, maybe a bit jealous as well.

He shouldn’t have just sat there either. X was basically telling him to get his crap together and things would be good, but no, Ross just sat there. He sat and stared toward the front of the bus, and where the girl had disappeared to. He assumed that she was off looking for George, but he hadn’t seen the male in a while. He might have been preoccupied else-where. The thought made Ross’ stomach churn. Surely X didn’t know that George was hooking up with other girls, and was okay with it.

As if he had heard him, George walked into the back lounge. He sat down opposite of Ross and offered his friend a joint. Ross rolled his eyes but took one anyway. He didn’t want to think at all right now. He breathed deep and let it all go. With the smoke, he let all of the frustration out with it. George was silent, and that kinda bugged him. Well, everything about the tall drummer was bugging him.

“So am I going to have to beat your ass now or later?” He spoke. “Because there’s quite the upset girl out there, and I hate seeing her cry.”

Ross rolled his eyes.

“Go comfort your girlfriend and leave me, then,”

George just laughed at him.

“X isn’t my girlfriend, Ross.” He stated. “Stop getting your knickers in a bloody twist. She’s mental about you. Dunno why, as you’re being a royal prat.”

“Shut up,” Ross rolled his eyes. “Why are you messing around with her, then?”

“I’m fond,” he shrugged. “Get your shit together, mate.”

And that was the last thing George said before he got up and left the bus and Ross behind. That was the second time in a fifteen minute period that someone told Ross to get it together. Unfortunately, he was never great at following directions.

George walked off of the bus and wrapped his arms around X. She squeezed him tighter than normal and it made the male chuckle. She had stopped crying, and that made him smile. He wasn’t lying, he was fond of her. He just wasn’t into her like Ross was. She knew that and was okay with it. She didn’t mind, and from their conversations, she felt the same. They were forming quite the bond.

“He’s a dick.” X stated. “I’m so pissed off,”

“He’ll figure it out eventually. Ross is daft.” George encouraged. “He will come around.”

“Are you sure?” She questioned, pulling away and looking up at him.

“No, but I can hope,” He replied. “Do you wanna go do something?”

X slowly shook her head no.

“I’m going to go back to my own bus and draw.” She stated. “Have fun though,”

The tall male kind of shrugged.

“We’ll see if she’s up for anything,” He stated before he opened the girl’s bus door for her. “Be good, kido.”

“You too,” X rolled her eyes and walked onto the bus without another word, leaving George to go off and find Nirvana.

Nirvana was sitting inside of the venue of the night, attempting to take a nap. She didn’t have anything better to do at the moment. Matty was off with Maize, and George had taken off with X. Lark was somewhere doing something, so that pretty much left her alone. The raven-haired girl was frustrated that she was all alone. She was upset that her options were with her friends. So why not nap it away? She was starting to think she should have grabbed a blanket because she was wearing a dress. It was cold in the room.

She was almost asleep when someone lifted her legs and plopped down on the couch. Her legs were sat down on a lap, and she wanted to scream. Slowly, her eyes opened to see George smiling over at her. She rolled her eyes at the boy, but was secretly grateful he came into the room. He didn’t say anything, but tapped his finger along her bare shins. She watched him as he slowly got more comfortable.

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting here,” He smiled and his eye crinkled. “Is that a crime?”

“Depends,” She shrugged. “Where’s X?”

He laughed in returned and shrugged his shoulders.

“Why would I know?”

“It seems like you both are pretty cozy,” Nirvana tried to pretend she was aloof. She never was the best at that. “I mean..she is a virgin though. She might get too attached to you,”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” George winked. Nirvana tried quickly to put the pieces together, but George’s hand was slowly moving up her leg.

“What do you think you’re doing, mister?” she asked him.  
The tall male just shrugged his shoulders. His boyish grin turned into a smirk as his hand reached her thigh. Nirvana bit on her bottom lip and watched his hand slowly, painfully slow, move toward her inner thigh.

“I think you know,” He said in a whisper. The environment of the room changed very quickly, and Nirvana’s thoughts were racing. George’s hand inched further, under her dress. He reached her underwear before slowly moving the fabric. The raven-haired girl moved so he could have easier access. George smirked, moving so he was hovering over the girl. It didn’t take her long to lose her control over the situation. George loved the soft noises coming from the girl under him.

“More,” She demanded, not even ashamed that the door was unlocked. Anyone could walk in at any moment.

Adam Hann had no idea what he was in for when I walked into the room. He didn’t know that he’d be seeing George in yet another sexual act with a different girl. The fact that Nirvana allowed it surprised him. Suddenly, he wanted to be anywhere else other than there. He didn’t fancy seeing his best friend get lucky when he’d pretty much been deprived. Adam left the room as quickly as he walked inside of it.  
It was his own fault that he hadn’t gotten laid. He could easily with all of the groupies just waiting around for them at any given moment. He could have scored with any of them, yet he chose not to. He didn’t want to make things awkward if anyone else had seen.

“Lark! Wait up!” Adam called, jogging toward the silver-haired girl. She looked as if she just got off of the phone, and looked spacy. He wasn’t sure why the girl went through days like that, and it worried him a little bit. “What’s going on?”

“Just walking,” She laughed. “What’s going on with you? You look a little panicked,”

“Just saw George and Nirvana,” He stated.

“Okay?”

“They were...you know…”

“No, I don’t.” She replied simply. “But I don’t care,”

Adam nodded slowly.

“Right.”

“What did you want?”

“Do you want to hang out?” He asked her. “I don’t really know you,”

“I know,” She sighed. “It seems that’s the line that everyone is giving me nowadays. What do you want to do?”

“Can we just go chill?” He questioned. “There’s another green room,”

“Because ours is occupied?” She questioned, stopping to look at him.

“Yes,” He confirmed. “Lets go chill,”

Lark rolled her eyes.

“You already said that,”

“Oh...right,” He chuckled before pushing the door open. To his relief, the room was empty. The pair walked toward a couch and sat down. Adam reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette. It wasn’t what he wanted, but it would do. He looked over at Lark as he took the cigarette between his lips.

“Want one?”

“No thanks,” She shook her head, pulling out a bag of weed instead. “Want one?”

Hann laughed.

“What the fuck,” He stated. “Lark, you’re full of surprises.”

“You have no idea,” She retorted, shaking her head. “Do you, or do you not? Because I’m pretty sure that I could find someone else to share this with…”

“Pass it here,” He laughed, gripping the bag from her hands.

The two sat in silence, smoking and just chilling out. Lark was pretty cool, Adam agreed. He must have not given her a chance. To be fair, the girl didn’t really talk to him either. They just didn’t interact a ton. It was nice enough. The two sat and smoked until it was getting close to show time. Lark stood up and went to the bathroom to change. Apparently she brought her stuff in their room for some reason. Adam wasn’t going to ask why. In the time that she went to change, Matty and Maize showed up. Hann rolled his eyes as it was obvious that the two had been physical.

“What the hell, Hann!” He laughed. “Smoking without me?”

Adam rolled his eyes lazily.

“I was smoking with Lark,”

“Lark?” Maize’s eyebrows flew up before she started laughing. “Lark doesn’t touch the stuff,”  
Matty snickered beside the girl, knowing otherwise.

“Where’s she at then?”

“Changing in there,” Adam stated, pointing toward the room. “She should be out any minute.”

“Let’s go, Matt.” Maize said, tugging lightly on his arm.

“No,” He sighed, pushing the girl’s hands off of him. “I’m going to stay with Hann.”

Maize rolled her eyes.

“Fine. I guess I’ll stay.” She said, tugging on her hair.

Adam could feel the awkward tension, and he wasn’t okay with it. He knew that the second Lark walked out of the bathroom that things were going to get a bit more difficult. He was grateful that Maize at least brushed and styled her hair. Matty’s hair was a different story. He pulled it off tough, and it almost always looked like it did currently.

“Oh...hi,” Lark said, walking out of the room. She girl was wearing rather tight black jeans, a black top that looked like it was almost a crop top, and a plaid shirt tied around her waist. She had Doc Martin’s on her feet. She looked good, but she also looked rather insecure.

“Lark!” Maize laughed. “Come join us,”

“I was going too…” The singer trialed off. She walked toward them, flopping down beside Adam. He looked over at her, letting his eyes roam for a moment before looking back at Matty and Maize. Maize was picking at her nails now, but Matty was staring at Lark. His gaze was intense, and Adam felt like he was intruding when he stole a glance at Lark’s face. She was smirking back at him, and Adam felt the sexual tension between the two for the first time.

“I’m bored already,” Maize stated.

“Then find something to do,” Matty stated, looking at her. “If you’re fucking bored then do something,”

Maize looked taken back.

“Fine, ass,” She stated, standing up. “Adam?”

“Huh?” The male asked. He wasn’t really paying attention to the girl.

“Do you want to go do something with me until show time?”

“It’s fucking pointless,” Lark sighed. “Show starts in twenty.”

“Whatever,” Maize rolled her eyes.

Lark wasn’t so sure why the drummer was being a brat. She was sure that she did nothing to her, yet here she was being a bitch. Matty laughed a little as Maize just stomped off and out of the room. It was comical, Lark supposed.

“Light another one, Hann,” Lark stated

Adam looked at her with wide eyes.

“Did you just call me by my last name?”

“Yes I did,” She stated, pulling a small wink toward the male.

All he could do was laugh.

The trio smoked until it was time for Lark to go on. Matty got up and followed the silver-haired girl like a lost puppy. How Maize didn’t know really confused Adam. Maybe the girl was finally catching on and that’s why she got so upset about Matty staying. Adam didn’t know. George and Nirvana eventually turned up, looking happy as ever. Though Nirvana would deny it, George made her feel differently than other males ever could have. It was nice, but she was going to keep that to herself. George was just glad to get alone with the girl. He really missed her company. X looked kind of better when it was show time. She changed, and looked fresh with makeup on. Maize still looked annoyed at Lark, and Lark just smirked. She didn’t have an issue with Maize at all. This was the girl’s problem.

The bands were simply buzzed after the shows, and even cracked a few bottles of alcohol open despite their strict rule. TJ, their tour manager, hadn’t really been on top of it as he hadn’t joined the tour yet. He had to stay back in Seattle for a bit to take care of things. He put X in charge, and the girl was totally okay with drinking. Matty had downed an entire bottle of wine whilst on stage and was feeling fantastic.

When everyone else was distracted, he pulled Lark aside. She didn’t retreat from him like normal, but willingly went along. They were in public, but everyone was too pre-occupied to care.  
Matty presses his lips to the girl’s messily, and she moved along with his. She didn’t pull away or suggest that they went somewhere with more privacy. Ross had caught on and brought Maize to dance with him, X, Nirvana and George. Adam just sat down on the couch, smoking weed yet again. No one noticed Matty making out with Lark openly. They didn’t care. He had her pressed to him tightly, tongues tangled together effortlessly. Slowly, Lark’s hand moved from Matty’s shoulder down to his hip. She brought her hand to the back of his jeans, reaching into the back pocket. Matty laughed into her mouth, kissing her harder.

Much like the first night, Lark brought out two chalky pills from the small bag. She put the bag back into his pocket before slowly pulling away from him. Matty’s eyes were filled with excitement as she looked at him with that look on her face.

“Open up,” She whispered; mocking him like the first time. Matty did what she said and she dropped the purple, rainbow stamped pill onto his tongue. He closed his mouth, swallowing the pill. Lark handed over the other pill, and Matty knew exactly what to do with it.

“Your turn, love,” He smirked and she opened her mouth, even tilting her head back a little bit. He dropped the pill in, elated when she swallowed her own green pill with a heart stamped on it. “What do you want, Larkin?”

“Fuck me,” She shrugged, wrapping her arms around Matty because no one was looking. No one saw the exchange, and no one saw that they were grinding to the music that was playing in the room. Everyone was oblivious to the two singer in the corner who swapped some pills.

Well, almost everyone.

Adam really wished he wasn’t there to witness it.


	9. You Dont Know Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been a while.

When George woke up next to Nirvana, he took a moment to really look at her. This was definitely not the best that she had ever looked. Even though this wasn’t the best, it was his favorite. This Nirvana, the one with smudged eyeliner, faded eyeshadow and the outline of her lipstick still present. He smiled at the girl that very much refused to acknowledge his presence most of the time. This version of the girl was harmless. George mused at how much she looked her age. Most of the time, she appeared older. However, there was no hiding now. She was sleeping, and nothing to change the fact that she looked like an exhausted eighteen-year old.

He reached over, softly pushing her hair off of her shoulder. He had a thing for collarbones, and her’s were no exception. In all actuality, Nirvana’s collar bones were his favorite. Slowly, George bent down and pressed his lips to her flesh softly. He hovered there, waiting for her to push him off. She didn’t, which made him smile before pressing small kisses from her collar bone all the way up to her neck, jaw and eventually lips. Finally, George pulled back. He lifted himself off of her hotel room bed, and slowly got dressed. She stayed fast asleep, and George felt something happen inside of him. He wasn’t sure of what to call it, but it really hurt.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” He sighed, walking out of the hotel room, and refusing to turn around. If George looked back at the girl he would have undressed and gotten back in bed with her. When he walked out of the room, he nearly ran into Lark. She was looking rough, George thought instantly. He didn’t say anything, and neither did she. The girl’s hair was a complete mess, and her clothes were wrinkled as if they had been laying in the floor for hours.

“What are you doing?” She asked, voice breaking.

“I’m going back to my room...where you just left…”

“And you just left mine…” The girl trailed off, studding George.

“How about we ditch and just go downstairs to eat?”

“I’d like that,” George sighed. “Not gonna change?”

Lark shrugged.

“I’d rather not wake Nirvana up,” She admitted. The two were silent as they walked toward the elevator. George motioned for Lark to walk on first, and that’s exactly what the girl did. They didn’t talk as they waited for the elevator to stop on lobby floor.

“She’s not into me, is she?” He asked as they slowly grabbed their food. “I mean….I don’t really expect her to be,”

“I’m not really sure, George,” Lark sighed, picking up her bagel. “I haven’t really been talking to her on this tour…”

“I’ve noticed,” He playfully rolled his eyes. “Have fun with Matty?”

Lark blushed for a moment before shaking her head.

“I don’t really remember it,” She admitted. “We took a pill or two.”

“He’s crazy about you,” George sighed. “I’m not too sure why. No one knows you, Lark. Even your friends don’t seem to really understand what’s going on with you right now.

She looked down before her hazel eyes met his.

"Like you said.... No one knows me,"

"We all have dirty secrets love,"

"Mine are more like nightmares, George." She informed him. “There’s just a lot th-”

“There’s my cupcake!” Matty stated loudly as he joined the pair. “And Larkin. How are you this morning?”

Lark rolled her eyes.

“He saw me leaving your room this morning,”

“Oh,” Matty shrugged, pulling up a chair and sitting in his backwards. “What are you crazy lot up too?”

“Eating?” George laughed, showing his American Muffin for effect. It was quite different than the ones he was used to back home. “What did you think we were doing?”

Matty smiled and shrugged before he pulled his growing hair into a bun.

“Anything good?”

“Yeah.” Lark shrugged. “The bagels aren’t bad.”

“Can I have a taste?” He asked, looking at Lark.

George watched the exchange as the girl rolled her eyes but handed over a part of it anyway. Matty ate the rest of her bagel happily before getting up to get them another one to share. Matty had it bad, George sighed. he needed no more convincing. That was the last clue, honestly. The fact that Lark willingly gave over her breakfast to the man she spent the night with and then that man went to go get them another? George felt smug. He had figured it all out before Lark did. She was oblivious. She didn’t recognize Matty’s affections. She didn’t know his soft side.

And that made George realize something else; Lark never intended to.

⇈⇊

Maize looked at herself in the mirror for what she deemed too long. She couldn’t help herself though, she just wasn’t satisfied. She usually wasn’t one of those girls that obsessed with what they were going to wear, like Lark, or cared too much about their hair, like X. Maize was normally content with herself, which is what made this so awkward. Matty had asked to take her out to eat that night, and it made her heart flutter. Honestly, she was beyond lucky. She was counting her stars, and making sure it wasn’t a dream. This was real life and Matty wanted her. She wasn’t usually the one who got attention, that was saved for Nirvana. No, Matty wanted Maize and that made her feel like the champion.

She peered down at her dress one more time before agreeing that it was the perfect one. Maize was sure that the night was going to be absolutely perfect. It had to be, afterall it was with Matty. He had been the sweetest guy to her, bar a few public remarks that made her fume. He was the sweetest, and he wanted her. How much luckier could a girl get?

“Whoa, look who’s all dressed up,” X stated as she walked into the girl’s hotel room. “Are you going somewhere?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Maize beamed. “Matty’s taking me out, tonight,”

X chewed the inside of her lip to keep herself from telling Maize just exactly who she just saw Matty with ten minutes ago. Sure, the pink-haired girl was aware that Matty was messing around with some girls, but as far as she counted, that was three of them. She knew for certain that Matty had been with three of the girls in Weekend Misery. She knew that Nirvana knew that Matty was involved with Maize. They would have to be blind not to see that.

“Oh...I...have fun?” She sighed.

“What?” Maize snapped, turning around to look at her friend. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” X shook her head. “I just don’t think that you should be wasting your time with Matty.”

“That’s rude.” Maize stated. “You don’t even know him!”

X rolled her eyes before walking away.

“Neither do you, pumpkin,” X mocked before walking out of the door. She made her way down the hall and nearly ran into Adam and Matty walking toward the hotel room. X kept a straight face as she got closer and closer to the two Brits.

“What’s wrong?” Adam laughed. “You look like a pissed off doll,”

“Matthew Timothy Healy, I swear if you don’t fucking set Maize straight then I will do it myself. At first it was about her feelings, but now she’s just driving me up the fucking wall,”  
Adam’s eyes grew as he turned to look at his friend. Of course Matty was laughing.

“Don’t worry, love. I will,” He winked.

“Ew.” X rolled her eyes before pushing past the two men. She didn’t know why, but it made her happy that Matty was hitting on her. Maybe that would help to prove Maize that he wasn’t in love with her. X didn’t want to hurt her friend, but lately she’s been getting an attitude before Matty gave her attention. X was done with it.

And maybe Matty should be to.


	10. Siren's Calling

American Candy

Sirens' Calling

The thing is that Matty did not want to let Maize go. Despite their huge differences in both personality, age, and lifestyle, he had grown attached to the girl. She wasn’t Nirvana, X, or Lark. She was her own person; different from the rest of her group. Matty liked that. He liked how naive the girl was, and how she just believed in him. She was his cheerleader, that’s for sure. No one saw that though. It might have something to do with running away from the girl, but Matty was actually interested in spending time with her. He just didn’t want to all of the time.

“You look beautiful, love.” He said earnestly.

“Thank you,” She beamed.

They were in some dimly lit restaurant in a town that Maize couldn’t properly pronounce. He bought them a bottle of wine, and they ate the best pasta. Matty was a true gentlemen, and he tried to be on his best behavior. He didn’t want the girl to catch on to his infatuation with Lark or his night time visits with Nirvana. He did actually want her to think that she was the only one. Matty didn’t know why, but he couldn’t just break her heart.

The evening was great, filled with sweet looks and lovely conversation. They had a blast, and they enjoyed themselves. Maize didn’t want to say it, but she had fallen in love with Matty. She was thinking that he was feeling the same way, because this evening was perfect. She didn’t want to say it though. She didn’t want to tell him that she felt this way. Maize didn’t want to scare him off by revealing too much. It’s happened before.

As the night went on, Matty suggested that they headed back to the hotel, and Maize just nodded. She wasn’t going to disagree with him at all. Maize was bursting to tell Matty, well anyone, that she was falling in love. She wanted to shout it out for the world to hear. Maize wanted to tell the girls in her band what was really happening, but she knew that it wasn’t the wisest idea. She knew that would end up badly, though she didn’t know the real reason why.

Matty was a true gentleman, down to the very end. Maize considered herself lucky that the lead singer always was sure to take care of her. Matty was a generous lover. He enjoyed taking care of someone else much more than himself, and that made her beam in happiness. In the afterglow of the night, Matty laid half-asleep with Maize to his side. While he was trying to sleep, she was staying up and looking at him. She felt her heart explode and she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“I think I love you,” She sighed before pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder and getting comfortable next to him. Matty’s eyes shot up and he tried to stay as still as possible. He waited until he knew that the girl was asleep. Slowly, expertly, he crawled out of her bed. After he was dressed, he grabbed the hotel notepad and pen from the stand. He thought for a moment before writing down a simple message;

I had to go, sorry love xx

With the message written, he slowly snuck out of her hotel room, and down the hall. Of course with his luck, he had forgotten his room key. He knocked a few times on his own door, but there was no response. He almost resorted to calling George names when a sleepy-eyed X answered the door instead.

“Oh...I’m sorry. I thought that I was at my room,” He stated, looking utterly confused.

“You are,” X sighed. “Come in,”

“Where’s G?” Matty asked her.

“He’s not here,” X sighed. “He’s letting me crash here for the night since you went out with Maize.”

Matty smiled bitterly.

“Oh okay,”

“What happened?” X asked, raising her eyebrows at the man standing in front of her.

He shook his head at her and walked toward his bathroom instead. X decided to sit back down and watch whatever movie was on the tv. X heard the shower going and she realized that she felt bad for him. He looked gutted when he walked into the room. There was also a hint of fear there. She wasn’t sure what happened with Maize, but she figured that it couldn’t be good. He looked far too frazzled for it to have been the perfect night.

Matty joined the pink-haired girl on the bed. He didn’t want to sound like a proper bird, but he wanted to be cuddled. There weren’t many times that the male would admit that. Yet, here he was, invading X’s personal space. Eventually the girl sighed and caught on. She laid back and opened her arms. It must have been an odd sight, she thought. Matty’s head was laying on her chest, and his legs wrapped around hers. Even though he was taller than she, he managed to make himself incredibly small. X’s arms were wrapped around him, her hands combing through his wet hair.

“She told me that she thought she loved me,” He sighed, finally.

“Whoa…” X trailed off. “I mean...did she know that you were awake?”

“Probably not,” Matty sighed. “I don’t think I love her, or if I ever will.” As Matty admitted it out-loud, he felt freedom. He didn’t realize how unhealthy it was to keep it inside of him. He wasn’t sure if he ever would love her, and he was coming to terms with that in his own way.

“You’ve created quite the web, Mr. Healy.”

“I know,” He admitted. “The worst part is that I’ve fallen for someone who doesn’t want me,”

X’s heart felt for him, as she was in the same position that he was. She had fallen for Ross. She wasn’t in love with the bass player, but she fancied the pants off of him. Ross still wasn’t trying anything, and it seemed like their relationship had gotten worse. He wasn’t ignoring her, but he definitely wasn’t pursuing her either. She felt at a loss, and George was trying to divide his time between her and Nirvana. The pair had grown quite close, so much that George felt comfortable sharing his secrets with the female bass player.

“Matty, I know that this sucks…” X didn’t get a chance to continue because Matty had pressed his lips to hers desperately. She was so shocked at first that she didn’t know what to do. Instinct kicked in, and she started to move her lips with his effortlessly before pulling back. “Matty, stop...we can’t.”

“Why not?” He asked, looking up at her with hurt eyes. She could have sworn she saw tears building.

“We’ve already hooked up a few times and we agreed...I just...not again, okay?” She sighed. “You’re miserable, and this is only going to make it worse okay?”

Matty acknowledged defeat. He wasn’t going to get any better from running from it. It was going to get deeper and more entangled than he already was. Maize was in love with him, X knew his tricks. Nirvana wanted sex and Lark pretended it meant nothing. He was stuck, and suddenly, Matty realized that he only had himself to blame.

If only he didn’t fall so fast, he wouldn’t be in this mess

⇈⇊  
Nirvana watched George intently as he interacted with X and Matty. It seemed like all of the sudden, the three had become a weird trio. They talked and interacted with each other much more than anyone else. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. George was spending more time with her, but because of that, Matty had pulled back. She wanted her cake and to eat it too. Nirvana wanted to have fun, and she was slowly realizing that this was becoming less about the fun.

Maize was jealous that X was getting her guy’s attention. Just a week or so previous, they had a fantastic evening together. Now it was definitely different as Matty went back to his usual self, and she couldn’t get alone time with him. He spent way too much time with George and X for her liking. She was pissed that the pink-haired girl would carry on a conversation with him like they were old friends.

Adam was suspicious of the three. It hadn’t been that long ago that he caught the three coming back from what seemed to be a sexual activity. He wasn’t sure honestly, but it felt obvious to him. He just thought that it was weird that now they were spending their time together. It was almost as weird as Ross and Lark becoming friends. That one confused him a bit, but it seemed like he was the only one that Lark wasn’t talking to. Ever since Adam saw Lark and Matty get hot and heavy, he’d been wairy. He felt like he had to tell her about Maize.

“X! No!” George laughed boisterously. “You can’t bloody do it!”

“I can to,” The pink playfully winked before looking over at Matty. “I can totally do it, can’t I, Healy?”

Matty just shrugged.

“Sure,” He laughed. “Feel free to try it.”

“Maybe I will then,” The girl stated, pinching the singer lightly on the arm. “You guys know nothing,”

George rolled his eyes before ruffling her hair.

“Go for it then, lovebug.”

At that, Nirvana’s eyes moved even further into slits and she was out of the room so fast that no one even noticed. She loathed hearing that George was calling X pet names so openly. She got that he wanted X more than her in public, whatever. It was the fact that he called her friend something so cute, and it made Nirvana want to pull her own hair out. She walked until she found Ross and Lark jamming out together. She flopped down beside her friend with an irritated noise.

“Uh oh…” Lark sighed, stopping her strumming. “What happened, V?”

Nirvana shot her best friend a look for calling her a nickname, before looking over at Ross. His eyebrows were raised rather high, and stopping his movements as well. He felt slightly uncomfortable, but didn’t do anything about it. The dark-haired girl just shook her head, and sat back further on the couch.

“Play me anything,”

Ross shrugged.

“Okay...let’s just continue…”

Lark nodded before starting the song, and Ross jumped in to join her. Nirvana sat back and enjoyed what she was hearing. It went on until Adam entered the room, and sat on the same couch that Ross was.

“What are you guys playing?”

“A little something,” Lark laughed. She stopped playing and Ross followed. “We just wrote it.”

“Well, Lark wrote the lyrics and stuff. We just so happened to write the guitar parts together.”

“I thought you played bass,” Nirvana joked.

“Hey now,” Ross laughed before re-positioning the strap on his shoulder. “No comments out of you.”

Adam shook his head.

“Can we actually hear the song?”

“I...yeah, sure,” Lark nodded. “I think it’s ready?”

“Definitely,” Ross laughed.

They were about to start playing when Maize walked in the room and joined the group.

“Oh man! Jamming!” She laughing, sitting down on the couch opposite to the four musicians.

“Shut up so they can play.” Nirvana groaned. Lark looked at Maize and rolled her eyes. It was the first true interaction the friend have had in a month or so. Maize figured that she would take it.

“1, 2, 3, 4…” Ross counted off before strumming his guitar. Lark jumped in before she started to sing.

I carry the weight of you in my heavy heart  
And the wind is so icy, I am numb  
I carry the weight of you heading back to start  
With a thousand eyes on me, I stumble on

I am tired, I’m growing older  
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah  
I carry the weight of you  
I carry the weight of you

No one seemed to notice but Matty, X, and George had slipped in as well. In fact, the trio had all gotten there before Lark even began to sing. While George and X sat down on the couch with X, Matty chose to lean up against the door frame instead. He was comfortable with not looking at her face at the moment. He was sure it revealed way too much.

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water  
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still  
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water  
Beside where the silver lining stays until  
The sirens’ calling

We follow the sun down low ‘til we hit the night

Matty decided to move until he was visible, sitting on the ground in front of Lark and Ross. He was mostly to the side, but he had the best seat. He leaned back until his back hit X’s legs.

And you hold me so tightly, it’s hard to breathe, oh  
And I’m tired, I’m growing older  
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah  
We follow the sun down low  
We follow the sun down low

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water  
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still  
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water  
Beside where the silver lining stays until  
The sirens’ calling  
The sirens’ calling

Nirvana was actually smiling at how carefree her friend was while she sang, she wished that Lark was like this all of the time.  
Maize was excited; they would have a new song to play.  
X was nervous, as Matty wouldn’t stop moving around in his spot on the floor.  
Lark took a deep breath, giving a small amount of eye contact to Matty.

Yeah, I’m tired, I’m growing older  
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah  
I am drowning and you’re stealing every breath  
Take me away and just

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water  
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still  
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water  
Beside where the silver lining stays until  
The sirens’ calling  
The sirens’ calling

George was impressed, as was Adam. Ross was beaming from his spot as he played the guitar along with the girl. When they finished, the band members clapped. They had truly enjoyed the song. Nirvana now had a look in her eye as she eyed Ross up and down. Matty was beaming at Lark. George was laughing along with X, and Adam congratulated Ross on not fucking up while he played. Maize enjoyed the song. She enjoyed it so much that she was looking around to make sure that the rest of the group had responded properly to the song. She was happy about it, well until she looked at Matty. When she looked at him, her heart felt like it dropped to her stomach. She felt like she was going to choke up or run away. When she looked at him, she felt weird inside.

Maize certainly felt weird because suddenly she knew what Matty’s face looked like when he was in awe; when he was in love. She just knew and supposed that maybe no one else did. No, for the first time, Maize saw what Matty looked like when he was looking at something or someone he loved.

And he wasn’t looking at her. No, Matty was looking at Nirvana.

At least, that’s what she thought. Turns out, Matty was really looking into the silver-haired girls eyes and he never felt so warm inside. Maize stood up abruptly, leaving without a warning to anyone else.  
Tangled webs, indeed.


	11. Now We're Drowning

Nirvana wrapped her arms around Ross' neck as he picked her up to move toward the nearest bed. She silently thanked the management teams for making sure they were in hotels more often than not. She would not have been enjoying the man as much if they were confined to the small bus bunk or a green room. No here, anything was pretty possible. There was plenty of room and the beds were California Kings.

Ross knew that this was a bad idea. He knew the instant that the girl looked him over that it was a really bad idea. His hormones were raging, and Nirvana was persistent. She was very difficult to say no to. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that X would find out. Ross knew that he was playing with fire, however, he didn't have much self control at the moment. He had been going mad.  
Of course the pair did, multiple times throughout the night. When they finished, finally, Ross got himself dressed. He wanted to make small talk with the girl but she was slowly dressing herself as well. She didn't want to talk about it, from the look on her face. It was pretty obvious. She wanted to be alone.

"I'll just be leaving now..."

"Already?" She questioned; shocking Ross greatly. "You can actually stay, if you would like?"

Ross raised a bushy eyebrow at her. He was surprised by the girl's admission.

"Are you sure? Rumor has it that you don't do sleepovers or talks after sex."

"I'm turning over a new leaf, Ross." She winked playfully. "So tell me about yourself,"

Ross just shrugged.

"There's nothing too interesting about me, besides the band,"

"What's been going on with you personally then? I hear you're the ladies man of the tour."

He shook his head and thought again. If only Nirvana knew who the real ladies man was, she wouldn't have said it to him. It didn't make sense to him that this girl, the one with sultry eyes and unashamed lips, had no idea about Matty and his extra activities.

"I wouldn't call me that, really."

Nirvana rolled her eyes at him. Ross felt awkward.

"Oh, whatever, MacDonald."

"I was being quite serious!" He laughed along with her. "I'm not always like this. It's a new development, really. I just... I'm avoiding conflict of interest."

"You mean X, don't you?" She really didn't even have to ask. Ross' face gave it away. He stared, confused about how she knew. He couldn't will himself to say anything. "It's painfully obvious,"

"Then why would you do this to me or her?" Ross questioned. "Why me?"

She huffed and shook her head.

"Ross, you're a fantastic human being. Anyone would be crazy not to see that, okay? X included. Plus, you are sexy."

Ross was rather quiet. Nirvana was patient, waiting for him to respond. He had so many questions swirling around his head. He didn't know what to do or what to ask. Finally, he came up with something.

"Why are you so scared to love people?"

He didn't know what he was getting himself into.

⇈⇊  
Adam was trying his best to sleep in the bed that he had just laid down in. He couldn't though, with X and George laughing ridiculously loud. He wasn't sure why Ross made him vacate his room, but he was really wishing that he hadn't. It was hard to fall asleep when the two were shouting every five seconds. They weren't actually shouting; Adam just felt like they were.

When he couldn't handle it anymore, Adam grabbed his trousers from the floor to slip on. He didn't care that he was nearly naked. He walked across the hotel room in his pants and nothing else on. George gasped dramatically and covered X's eyes. It was a bit comical, considering that George was rather quiet. Something about X brought it out in him. It was kinda mental.

Adam dressed in his black skinnies, and a white vest, or tank top as Americans called it. He walked toward the elevator. Once in the elevator stopped on the lobby floor, Adam went searching for the pool. He didn't want to swim, but he needed to just breathe. He didn't expect to be this stressed out on tour. Then again, they never had a girl band on tour with them before. He had never felt so over-ran by females in his life. They were everywhere.

As if predicting the future, Adam walked into the pool area to see Lark pacing back and forth. She was on the phone with someone important. Adam didn't mean to, but he was eavesdropping. He approached quietly, staying a far away as possible.

"I love you so much, Beau." She sighed. "I miss you." Adam slowly turned toward her and her back was to him. "Did you have fun? That's great.... Yeah, I'm having fun. Are you behaving yourself?" She giggled a little at the response that Adam couldn't hear. "Okay, yeah it is late here. I love you. I promise that I will call before you go to sleep. Bye."

Adam promptly turned around and made a louder noise, as if trying to trick her. He didn't want her to know that he had been there the entire time.

"Oh, Hi." He spoke for the first time. Lark jumped and turned toward the man.

"Gees! You scared the frack out of me," She nearly yelled, placing her hand over her heart and then rubbing her face. "I’m so paranoid tonight."

"What were you doing?"

"Just calling home," She smiled sadly. Adam almost asked her who Beau was, but he didn't want her to know that he had been listening to what she was saying on the mobile. "What about you? What brings you to the pool?"

"I needed some peace and quiet." He sighed. "I got booted from Ross' room, so I was in George's and he and uh... Matty were just being so loud. I had to get out,"

“They are rather obnoxious, aren’t they?” Lark laughed lightly. “So now you end up out at the pool with a paranoid teen,”

Adam rolled his eyes lightly.

“Okay, sure,”

“I am,” She sighed sadly, looking at the water that was ever so dark. “Do you remember your childhood?”

“Yes…” Adam trailed off with a small laugh. “What kind of question is that?”

“I mean do you remember what it was like being a kid? One that went to summer camps or just played in the dirt? Do you remember if your parents ever went on business trips and you wished that you could go along? Did you ever go along? Stuff like that,”

He was taken back slightly.

“Uh...yeah, I mean i remember. I don’t think I remember that detailed, though, if I’m quite honest.”

“I remember being five years old and terrified of water. I don’t know what it was, but I just assumed that there were monsters in every body of water. It didn’t matter where I went with my parents, I refused water,”

Adam chuckled a bit.

“It’s just water,”

“No, it represented my anguish as an adolescent. I was terrified because I couldn’t live day to day, not knowing what was coming next. It’s much more than water. It’s my fear….worry….heartbreak,”

“You’re so weird,” He laughed. “There is nothing in that water. It’s just chlorine.. There’s nothing to it. You’re going to be okay if you dip your feet in,”

Lark rolled her eyes.

“You’re missing my point,”

“I think you’ve missed mine,” He countered. “You’re scared of the unknown instead of providing the cold, hard facts. Nothing too big could fit in there, and nothing too small would be floating at the surface. They can not survive in the chemicals,”

“No, it’s the metaphor. It’s the what ifs and should have’s that I’m worried about. I’ve been living my life day to day, worry by worry ever since I was fourteen years old. It’s much more than cold hard facts, Adam. It’s my life,”

“But you’re sitting beside me now,”

“But my feet aren’t in the water, are they? I don’t take risks, Hann. It’s far too dangerous,” The silver-haired girl said cryptically before pulling her body even further away from the edge.

“What happened to you?” Adam asked softly. “What happened that made things like this?”

Lark scoffed, bringing her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms securely around her legs.

“So much, really. I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s a long story,”

“I’ve got time,” He smiled encouragingly.

So Lark began telling Adam bits and pieces of her story. As it unfolded, Adam felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t want to be there anymore. He didn’t want to know so much about the girls. He would have preferred to sit further on the sidelines than be close to them. However, it seemed as if he had earned some sort of trust with the girl because she was honest with him. She didn’t exactly beat around the bush and she told him about her nightmares, dreams, and the earth shattering experience that left her more of a mess than she was before. Adam understood her band’s lyrics much more now than he ever thought that he could.

⇈⇊  
“I don’t love people because I’m not lovable,” Nirvana shrugged. “It’s as simple as that, Ross. I’m just...I’m just me, and I’m okay with that,”

“That’s not the honest response,”

“What do you want me to say, Ross?” She sighed heavily.

Ross was beginning to notice just how much Nirvana looked her age. She looked worn and stressed out already. The girl didn’t even been talking to him for five minutes before she began to look exhausted.

“Tell me your life story,” He repeated.

Nirvana pulled her long hair back into a pony tail.

“Okay….uh… My name is Nirvana Grace Smith… random, I know. I was born in Seattle, and I still live there. I met the girls while we were all in Kindergarten, so we’ve been friends since we were between five and seven years old. When I got to middle school, I started to figure out that I was developing quicker than the other girls. I...I got teased for it, and I just felt so bad about myself. Long story short, I developed a pretty serious eating disorder.”

Ross furrowed his brows and leaned into the girl even more.

“Really? You? You’re bloody gorgeous,”

“Thanks,” She tried her best to shrug it off, but Ross knew that his comment meant something to her. “I eventually had to drop out of school to go to a rehab facility in Florida, and I spent over ninety days there. It was hell, honestly. I had never been that far away from my family. Our band was still very young, and we were just taking hit after hit with just awful circumstances. There are just some things that have seriously happened, and I guess I snapped. I was having anxiety attacks and mental breakdowns. They were hellish.”

Ross nodded along.

“I’m glad you’re here now, though,”

“If I didn’t go to rehab, I don’t know where I would be, Ross.” Nirvana answered honestly. “I don’t think I’d be alive,”

“I….whoa,”

“I don’t deserve your support or pity. That’s what happened, and I’m okay with it,”

No she wasn’t, not in the slightest. They were barely three months in and Ross felt like they were all going to drown.

Yes, Ross definitely wasn’t ready for her response.


	12. T R O U B L E

Nirvana was in trouble. She knew the second that she left Ross’ hotel room that everything would go downhill from here on out. She didn’t make the right decisions, and it was already biting her in the ass. She let her emotions get the best of her. She knew better than to do what she did, but it was like she couldn’t stop. Ross wasn’t the bad guy. Sure, half of it was his fault, but Nirvana was woman enough to admit that it was on her. She did it.

Being around X was beginning to get harder. She tried to be a friend to the pink-haired girl, but was finding it difficult. The more time Nirvana spent with Ross, and the more time X spent with George, the weirder she felt. Nirvana hadn’t felt this way before. She could mess with boys and care less, but a relationship with one of her best friends meant something entirely different. X, Lark, and well sometimes Maize, meant the world to the girl. She had no one besides the three girls and sometimes her parents. She needed them.

While Nirvana felt this indescribable feeling, Ross felt sick to his stomach. The guilt was eating him alive. He couldn’t look at either of the girls without wanting to hurl. They had been all avoiding each other for the past month, and it was getting a little ridiculous. However, Nirvana and Ross tended to sneak away for a few hours every other night. They found comfort in each other’s presence. It was easier than being alone.

Matty tried his best to avoid Maize, as the girl was getting clingier and clingier. She wanted to be next to him all of the time. He couldn’t handle it anymore. The first month he thought that it was cute. Now? No, now it’s driving him mad. Even Lark or X couldn’t distract him from her. Lark had not caught on, but she was in her own little world now more than ever. He tried not to think too much of it when he saw that she was spending more time with Adam. Which, again, left him with Maize the majority of the time.

He wanted to spend time with Nirvana, but once she caught on that Maize and Matty definitely were a thing, she backed off. This had more to do with X, Ross and George than anything, but Matty didn’t know that. He only knew that the raven-haired girl no longer would crawl into bed with him. It was a shame, seeing as he really liked her. Then again, Matty liked all of them.

George and X hatched a plan to get Nirvana more interested in him. It seemed like it was working, as the girl showed just how jealous she was. It as working for a while until all of the sudden, Nirvana backed off. She wasn’t pressing for more time with George, and she said that she wanted to be alone. George bought it, hook, line and sinker while X knew better. She knew that Nirvana felt guilt, and wasn’t sure what to do with it. X just didn’t exactly know what guilt she was feeling.

Lark continued making calls to Beau, and Adam still didn’t know who Beau was. Something inside of him told him that it was nothing good. Well, not that Beau wasn’t good, but it wasn’t good that Lark kept him private. Adam was beyond positive that Matty had no idea that Lark loved this mysterious guy with the odd name. Every time that Adam would get the courage to ask Lark about the boy, someone was there to interrupt. Usually it was Matty and Maize.

Maize was having a difficult time accepting that Matty didn’t really love her yet. The young girl was convinced that he would, eventually. It might take them all tour, but she was confident that he would fall in love with her. There was a lot that the clingy drummer simply did not know about Matthew Healy. She tried her best, but he put a wall up and it was not coming down anytime soon. She felt lost and a bit hurt. Adam tried his best to be there for her, but it was still hard to catch the guys. She missed her best friends.

Adam was torn. He kept trying to keep up with the weird tangled web that Matty created, and the one that George and Ross were embarking on. Adam Hann was observant, but he wasn’t a detective. Keeping Maize away from Matty and Lark was just as hard as keeping Lark away from Maize and Matty. He was trying himself not to get too caught up in it, because he had a life. He had more important things to do than be involved with high school aged girls and their boy drama.

“No, love.” Matty sighed for the thousandth time at one of Maize’s questions. “Please, just leave it, okay?”

“We haven’t been out in a month, Matt.”

Adam snorted because Matty absolutely loathed when anyone except George called him that. The lovers, however, ignored him.

“And we’re not bloody going to if you keep busting my balls!” He nearly yelled, lighting up a cigarette in his very Matty fashion. “I don’t want to go okay,”

“Why not?” Maize finally raised her voice. “Damn, it’s like you’re ashamed of me.” She said as tears gathered in her eyes.

Adam felt bad as the auburn haired girl got up and left the back of The 1975’s bus. He didn’t say anything until the bus door slammed shut.

“Matty, what the hell, mate?”

“I can’t, okay? I just...can’t handle it,” He stated. “I can’t handle her codependency, or her constant begging. She’s a fool, Hann.”

“She just like you, okay?” He sighed. “It’s your fault in the first place.”

“I know that,” He stated, taking a long drag of his cigarette. “I’m the character of my own demise, etcetera, etcetera.”

“I don’t get it,” Adam stated. “You have Maize, you have Nirvana and you bloody even have Lark.”

“Hann, get your head out of your arse, mate. I have no one.”

“No, you will have no one if you keep doing this, mate.” Adam felt exhausted already. “I’m bloody sick of trying to keep all of it fucking straight.”

“Somebody has to,” He replied with a lazy smirk.

Adam rolled his eyes before he walked swiftly off of the bus. He jumped off, and found that Maize was still around the corner. She didn’t say anything to him and he motioned for the girl to follow him. Everyone expects Ross to keep the peace, but since his head was somewhere else, it was moved to Hann. This was a responsibility that Adam wasn’t enjoying.

“I’m fine, really,” Maize huffed. “He’s just an ass.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, love,” Adam laughed. “Why are you crying?”

“You’re kidding me right?”

“You can’t blame me for asking, right?” He shrugged. “What do you want to do? I’m all yours today,”

“I dunno,” She shrugged. “You like video games, right?”  
Adam laughed.

“Yes, a lot.” He replied. “Want to do that?”

“Yes.” Maize affirmed. “C’mon, we have a sick set-up on our bus.”

“Okay,” He smiled, following the girl who was now in a better mood. It wasn’t the best, but at least she was tolerable. That made all of the difference.

⇈⇊  
“Do you know why they are avoiding us?” George finally bucked up and questioned X. “I mean...it’s like all of the sudden, they want nothing to do with us.”

“I’m not too sure, G.” X shrugged. “Nirvana won’t even look at me. I’ve never seen her be so...weird about it before. Then again, what do I know?”

“We’re going in bloody circles.” George stated, tugging on his hair. “Fuck it, lets just do it,”

X rolled her eyes.

“Sex isn’t always the answer, G.”

“But it makes me feel better,” The man pouted. His deep voice contradicted grately with his facial expression. “C’mon, love.”

“George,” X warned. “No, not the face,”

“Please?” He pouted, slowly getting onto his knees. “I promise to make it worth your time,”  
The girl blushed.

“That’s not the point. I just-”

“Fucking great,” Nirvana bit as she walked onto the bus. “This is exactly what I needed.”

George got off of the ground as quick as he could and X avoided eye contact. Regardless if Nirvana liked George or not, she felt dirty even thinking about being with George. Ross was right behind her, looking almost the same as X. They were all a little embarrassed. The tall male walked toward the dark-haired girl as she ravaged through her bunk for something. X didn’t catch the conversation and she would rather not be there when things started to happen. She almost backed out of the bus when she decided that she’d rather intervene if she needed to. She wanted to make sure no one was going to die. Ross heard Nirvana say something harsh to George and X stepped in. The three were almost yelling when they all stopped all of the sudden.Through his curiosity, Ross walked to where the three were standing.

The four stopped and just stared. Because of how loud the TV happened to be, and the Theme of the game playing over and over again on the XBox, Adam and Maize didn’t hear the others. Ross, X, George and Nirvana all stared wide-eyed as they watched Maize remove Adam’s shirt, and Adam press hot kisses to the drummer’s neck. They couldn’t look away, even as the guitarist moved south with his mouth. Maize’s shirt had already been off before the quartet saw the pair, and when Adam pressed his mouth to her navel, they decided to back up.

None of them spoke as they walked off of the bus. George was a little shocked, and Ross couldn’t believe his eyes. X felt sick, as she was sure that Maize was in love with Matty, and Nirvana wouldn’t stop smirking. Nirvana didn’t think that Maize had it in her to be devious. The quiet consumed them, and they didn’t know what to do with themselves. No one even dared to say anything, but George made the first move. Both Nirvana, X and Ross expected the tall male drummer to wink at Nirvana or say some joke. They expected George to suggest he take Nirvana and “talk”, but that didn’t happen. No, George walked over toward X and grabbed her hand. He started walking, making the girl walk with him. He didn’t look back and he didn’t say anything. George as done with the raven-haired girl.

Nirvana’s mouth hung open. When the pair had yelled at each other, she didn’t expect George to actually be done. He had called her out about sleeping with other me, Ross, but she didn’t know he would leave without her. She was sure that he was smitten. Nirvana as almost positive that Ross was hung up on her.

But George left with X, making the statement that he was over it. Ross just stared as the bass player tried her best to keep up with the 6’5” tall drummer. He couldn’t take his eyes of as she leaned over and wrapped her hand around his elbow. He watched as George turned his hand around and laced his fingers between X’s. Ross couldn’t look away, well that was until Nirvana made a sound.

“Don’t you dare say a word,” She spoke softly, turning around and making her away to anywhere but standing right there.

She didn’t walk away quick enough for Ross not to see the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. Ross learned two very important lessons within the last ten minutes. He learned that one; Maize and Adam were going to regret their decision, two; He had probably, officially, lost X to George and three; Nirvana felt something deeply for the drummer that she couldn’t admit out loud.

⇈⇊  
“Nirvana, please talk to me,” X begged, knocking on the outside of the ladies bathroom. The lead guitarist had locked herself in the bathroom when she saw X coming. X knew that Nirvana had issues with anxiety, but she didn’t know that she would ever be the cause of it. “Please….say anything…”

“Fuck you!” Nirvana yelled out-loud.

“Come on, Ni…” X sighed, leaning her entire body on the door. “Please don’t stay mad at me. I….I’m sorry,”

Nirvana looked at herself in the mirror. The girl looking back at her reminded her of the girl that she was before she went to rehab. She was reminded of how fragile she was, and that despite her best efforts, she wasn’t invincible. X saw that in her, and it made her even more angry. She didn’t meant to cry, but she just snapped, and now she couldn’t stop. The anxiety of seeing X, George, or both at the same time made her want to hurl. She wasn’t in the right state of mind and she knew that. Nirvana needed Lark in moments like this. Lark knew, and she could comfort her the best. The only thing she could do was dry her eyes and put back on her makeup.

“I don’t care,” Nirvana yelled back. She was aware that X knew what was going on between her and George. The tall drummer had let it slip that he told X about them. Nirvana was furious, but Maize and Adam trumped that. At first, Nirvana wanted to get even more revenge, but her conscience told her that she had done enough. Despite her best efforts to hate X and George, she knew that she couldn’t. Nirvana didn’t have the right, as she had done worse to all of them.

“We have to play soon,”

“Not exactly,” TJ stated, walking up to X. He had just entered the crowded green room. Maize and Adam were talking quietly while Ross and George seemed to be ignoring each other. Matty and Lark were missing, of course.

“Whoa! When did you get here?” She asked.

“Just an hour or so ago. I was cleaning up the tour bus. Apparently you guys can’t really get along without me,” He sighed. “Lark?”

“No,” X shook her head. “It’s Nirvana.”

TJ nodded slowly before knocking on the door.

“Nirvana? It’s TJ….are you okay?”

“TJ?” She questioned, finishing her eye makeup. Even she was impressed by how good she was at making it look like she hasn’t cried. She opened the door slowly and saw that TJ was definitely standing there.

“Hey,” He laughed. “Sorry that it took so long, I lost my passport.”

“So Maize wasn’t lying,” Nirvana laughed.

“Sadly, no,” He sighed. “Why are you locked in there? Why did X look so… unhappy?” The girl in question was already sitting with George and had her legs pulled to her chest.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,”

“Oh...well there’s some news that I have for all of you,”

“All of us?” Nirvana furrowed her brows. “What news?”

“Yes, even for The 1975,” He stated. “It’s big news.”

“Oh,” she sighed.

Before she could say another word, Lark and Matty stumbled into the room. They were giggling and laughing. Matty was practically hanging off of the girl, and their mannerisms suggested something well, suggestive had happened. They were close to Nirvana and TJ. Nirvana stood with wide eyes, looking at the pair as if something was very wrong with the picture. TJ didn’t understand what would be so wrong with it. He had talked both to X and his sister on a regular basis, and the guys seemed pretty chill. He didn’t see it, but Nirvana did. She saw their mussed hair, and fully-blown pupils.

Nirvana was shocked. Lark, her best friend, had been doing more than sneaking off and being her normal self. Lark had been sneaking off with Matty. Lark must have known about Maize and Matty, right? She wasn’t to sure. If that didn’t shock her enough, she recognized just how high they were. They were falling all over each other. Lark even fell to the ground and Matty had a hard time picking her back up. Maize didn’t see, she was too busy looking at Adam for answers. Nirvana saw, and she wasn’t okay with it at all.

“What?” TJ sighed.

“What in the hell!” Nirvana yelled, drawing attention toward herself and TJ. She moved toward her bandmates and tourmates with the manager in tow. “What the fuck!”

Lark laughed loudly before covering her mouth.

“Sorry,”

“Shut up!” Nirvana hissed. “What is wrong with you!?”

“We’re just having a bit of-”

“Shut the hell up, Matthew. You have no idea what’s going on,” Nirvana threatened, glaring. “Larkin, you know better!”

Everyone looked around, very unaware of what was going on.

“Calm down, mom.” Lark nearly seethed. “Since when did you get so uptight?”

“Since when did you become a cheap slut?!” Nirvana yelled back. Lark looked as if she had been punched in the face and Matty wrapped both of his arms around her middle and pulled the girl toward his chest. This enraged her even more. “How could you be so, so...” She trailed off. “Reckless!”  
No one wanted to say anything at all to Nirvana at that point.

“You have no right to call her that,” George stated, standing up and walking toward the girl. “Nirvana, whatever your middle name is, you’ve been a right slag since the beginning of the tour,”

X’s eyes bugged out of her head.

“She hasn’t, really,” X jumped in.

“Oh don’t you dare!” Nirvana stated. “Don’t you go and-”

Adam rolled his eyes, standing up and walking to separate all of them.

“Can’t we all just stop this childishness?”

“Like you’re one to talk!” Ross stated, knocking his shoulder with Adam’s. “We saw both of you,”

“Saw what?” Adam laughed it off.

“What in the bloody hell is going on here?” Matty asked after cuddling Lark until she was okay to pull away. “Who in the hell are you?”

“I’m TJ…” TJ trailed off. “I’m their manager,”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “What happened?” He demanded again.

“Nothing,” Maize rolled her eyes.

X scoffed.

“Oh, sureeeeee, nothing happened. We fucking saw you both, Maize.”

“Oh okay so I’m the slut now?” She questioned. “Last time I checked, you and George were fucking in any bathroom possible!”

“You know nothing about us!”

There was a very distinct change when they all heard shuffling through the door.

“Wow,” The first voice stated.

“Damn, dramatic bitches much?”

“I thought it couldn’t get weirder than our tour,”

“What’s with all of the yelling?”

“And I thought that we were bad,”

Slowly, everyone turned their attention toward their voices, and the group stood silently.

“Oh, come on. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” the brunette drummer stated. “I mean I know I went away for a bit…”

The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think that’s the problem.”

“Guys, shut up,” The one with bleached blonde hair stated.

“Yeah,” The girl with the tips of her hair teal stated. “Definitely saw a ghost.”

“I’m sorry for them,” the dirty blonde stated.

The 1975 all exchanged weird looks, as there were five strangers standing in front of them. Weekend Misery didn’t look at confused.

“What are you doing here?” Lark asked finally.

“We heard Reckless and figured that was a our cue,” Spencer Tucker stated with a smirk.

As if things couldn’t get worse,   
T R O U B L E in five reckless girls came.  
Reckless Little Hearts were there and apparently they weren’t leaving


	13. The Heartbroken

No one moved for five solid minutes as the two girl bands stared at each other. The 1975 were completely confused as to why no one as talking, but they weren’t seriously about to start the conversations. Across from X, Maize, Nirvana and Lark stood Roxie Lancaster, Liz Horan, Emery Addams, Spencer Payne and Ash Walker. The two girl bands, who last saw each other on not such good terms were a little weary of what to say, well until Ash broke the silence.

“Hi, I’m Ash Walker. I’m twenty-two years old and I’m the lead guitarist for Reckless Little Hearts,” She smirked over at Adam. “You’re Adam Hann, lead guitarist for The 1975. Nice to meet you,”

Adam looked a little wide-eyed.

“Uh...hi,”

“I’m Roxie,” The girl with waist long, brown hair stated. “I drum.”

“I play bass, and my name is Emery.” She stated.

“I’m Spencer, I’m the lead singer,” The blonde stated.

Now that they really looked, you could see the fading pink at the bottom of her hair.

“I’m Liz and I play rhythm guitar. I took a break for a year or so, but I’m back for the time being,”

“What are you doing here?” X asked instead.

TJ stepped in for the girls instead of letting them answer for themselves.

“Uh, Reckless Little Hearts will be joining the tour.” He stated. “Since they’re so big...uh… Weekend Misery will get bumped to the first band.”

“What the fuck?!” Lark yelled. “How in the hell is that fair?!”

“That’s bullshit,” Nirvana voiced. “We’ve been working our asses off!”

Spencer laughed.

“Chill out,” She stated. “We don’t want to take your spot.”

“You’re doing such a good job at it,” Maize gave the other female lead singer the stink eye.

“Okay, child,” Spencer rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to always be an ungrateful bitch, you know that right? Our albums sells speak for themself, but we just came to support two bands that we like. We didn’t come here to take your precious spot, Princess,”

George’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’d be nothing without us, Maize. Or did you forget that?” Ash asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Adam was staring at the purple-haired, feisty guitar player when he noticed quite the sizable diamond on her ring finger.

“Hey, Roxie,” Matty sighed. “How’s H?”

Roxie cracked a smile.

“He’s good. I’ll tell him that you said hey,” She replied. “So...who wants to play a rad show?” she asked.  
X chewed on her bottom lip. Ever since Maize royally pissed off Ash, they felt like they owed the hardcore girl band. Which to be frank, Maize deserved it. Again, she’s devious. Liz pulled her dirty blonde hair up into a high ponytail and walked over to shake hands with the members of the 1975. Nirvana stopped being so weird and went to wrap her arms around Ash. The two met a few years back, when they were in rehab, and they have been kind of close since that time. Ash treats Nirvana like her little sister.

Lark stood awkwardly next to Matty, leaning into his side the entire time. His hand rubbed soothing circles on her back, and it really did make her feel better. Spencer and Roxie moved forward to talk to the guys while Emery went to chat with X, her fellow bass player. The room was suddenly taken over by a calm instead of the frenzy they were in before Reckless Little Hearts arrived. It was okay, for now. It had to be anyway, the all-girl hardcore band were going on first. How TJ kept it all a secret really was beyond them.

“I’ve seen you birds on the news,” George laughed. “You’re with the One Direction lads, yeah?”

Spencer nodded.

“Correct. I married Liam and Liz married Niall. Ash is engaged to Louis and Roxie and Harry just got engaged. Emery and Zayn’s wedding is coming up in a few weeks. But he left the band so…” Spencer trailed off.

“I’m so done here,” Maize sighed, rolling her eyes and walking away. No one followed the girl out of the room right away.

Matty watched the girl before looking back at Adam. Adam rolled his eyes but went after her first. After a few awkward minutes, Matty pressed a kiss to Lark’s forehead before he removed his arm from around her. He didn’t offer an explanation as to why he was walking off, but Lark didn’t care at the moment. She was too concerned with her friends. When Matty rounded the corner he saw something that he wasn’t quite expecting. He saw Adam with his hands softly cupping Maizes face, and pressing his lips to hers. Matty, who was confused because she claimed to love him, tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. He didn’t exactly want to break up the moment, but he knew that it was now or never. He saw how mad they all were, and that wasn’t something he wanted to relive.

“Uh….can I talk to Maize alone now?” He stated, rather awkwardly. He wasn’t his usual charismatic self.  
Adam abruptly pulled away. When he realized that it was Matty, something inside of him felt bad about even being with Maize. Yes, Adam Hann felt regret and remorse.

“Yeah, take all the time you need,” Adam sighed. “I’ll be over here….okay?”

Maize nodded, rolling her eyes when he walked away. She wasn’t a child that needed to be babysat.

“Yes?”

“Maize...you’re great. You know you’re great.” He sighed. “I just can’t be with someone that can’t commit to me,”

Her eyes opened wide.

“What do you mean that you can’t do it?! I saw the way you stared at Nirvana, Matty! You...you are the one being unfaithful,”

Matty raised an eyebrow.

“You’re basing that off of a look...I literally caught you and Adam just now.” He stated. “but whatever, I have fucked Nirvana so there.”

“What?” She yelled loudly, not caring who heard her.

He sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“You’re just a kid,” He stated. “You act like one, and you’re playing with the big dogs. For fuck’s sake, just stop while you’re ahead. Maize, we’re not together. We were never dating,”

The girl looked shocked.

“What? What do you mean? Of course we were,”

“No, love.” He said, shrugging it off. “I can’t do this with you anymore. It’s tiresome, and frankly I can’t emotionally handle you. I think it’s time to cut it off, babe.”

The girl stood there, utterly heartbroken as she watched him disappear into the room. Maize felt like she just lost everything. Sure, that’s a bit dramatic, but Matty was one of the best things to have happened to her this year. That was until she found out about him cheating. According to Matty, it never was cheating because they weren’t together.

“Maize, are you okay?” Adam asked, walking toward her. “What happened?”

She cried a little bit harder.

“He dumped me. Matty actually dumped me,”

Adam wrapped his arms around her and tried his best to make her feel safe. He knew that this was going to really mess things up.

Anxious tears and friends being torn apart,  
It’s all fair until there’s a broken heart.

⇈⇊

“Whoa, wait, wait, wait.” Ash hushed Nirvana. “What happened again?”

Nirvana rolled her eyes at her close friend.

“I’ve made a royal mess of literally everything,”

“I’ve seen messes… and Roxie on drugs. This is fixable.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure that Matty and Lark are off snorting cocaine right now,”  
She rolled her eyes.

“What? Tell me- wait...no. Nice try. Back to you,”

The younger girl shrugged because at least she attempted at deflecting.

“Okay, I’m going to say it one more time, okay?”

“Okay,” Ash nodded, ready to listen.

“So there’s Matty, who is super sexy but super slutty.”

“Like you,”

Nirvana rolled her eyes but agreed nevertheless.

“Yes. So Matty was sleeping with Lark, Maize and myself at the same time,”

“And how did you not know that?” Ash questioned. “I mean, it’s pretty fucking obvious.”

“Because we’re all so busy being entangled. Let me finish!”

“Right, sorry,” Ash laughed

“So Matty was banging Maize, Lark and myself. I was banging George and Matty, but mostly just George. X and Ross were attracted to each other and Adam was just being Adam. I’m not exactly sure of his part in it all yet. So, Ross stopped talking to X and it was super annoying. All of the sudden, he started shagging groupies and X got so mad. Before X knew that George and I had a thing, she apparently lost her virginity to George.”

“Oh fuck,” Ash’s eyes grew wider.

“Tell me about it!” Nirvana nearly yelled. “Anyway, so that’s some of how we are entangled. Well a week or two ago, I started to sleep with Ross…”

“Why in the world?” Ash questioned. “I thought you liked Matty?”

“No, George.” Nirvana corrected. “Matty’s is nice to look at, George is someone I want to hold,”

Ash shook her head.

“I am so confused.”

“Anyway, I slept with Ross because I wanted George back and to piss of X. In return, George just decided that he was done with me instead. Like what the actual fuck? Me? He was the one that...well technically we both did, but he didn’t have to be done,” Nivana sighed. “Then Ross, X, George and myself walked in on Adam and Maize about to get it on. Then right before you guys got here, Lark and Matty tumbled into, literally, the green room.”

The purple-haired girl shook her head slowly.

“You remind me of myself when I was seventeen.” Ash stated. “Do you want my honest opinion?”

“No?” Nirvana grimaced.

“Fuck you,” Ash laughed. “You need to have a serious conversation with George. Nirvana, I think you like him.”

“No shit,” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t do feelings. They’re gross.”

“Apparently...you do,” Ash sighed. “Listen, there was a boy and a girl that I know. They’ve spent the later part of nearly four years dancing around each other. They’re just now engaged. Don’t be like those two, okay? I’ve seen Harry and Roxie walk through a lot of pain because of stupid decisions. I, myself, almost lost Louis because I was stubborn,”

No matter what her instincts were telling her, Nirvana was having a hard time accepting what Ash was telling her. She didn’t know exactly what feeling for someone deeply felt like. She didn’t know what it was like to be in love, but did that matter? All Nirvana knew was that whenever she looked at George, her insides feel weird and her heart tightens.

⇈⇊

George Daniel was absolutely gutted about the entire situation. He wasn’t sure how to express it so it came out in all the wrong ways. He didn’t mean to call Nirvana a whore, even when she had acted like one. He didn’t mean to keep sleeping with X, but that’s all that he knew how to do. George Daniel was about as messed up as the rest of them were. That’s why he currently had the pink-haired girl pressed against him and his lips attached to her neck.

“George….c’mon...stop,” She sighed, slowly pushing the male away. He freely went where she pushed him, never forcing her into anything that she didn’t want to do. “I can’t do this to Nirvana or Ross. Hell I can’t do this to us.”

George furrowed his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I can’t replace her,” X sighed. “You’ve got to open up about your feelings toward her. I know you must like her on some sort of level.”

“Do not,” He mumbled with his head buried in the crook of her neck. “Dunno what you’re talking about,”

X sighed, tangling her fingers through his hair.

“Please go talk to Nirvana. I’ve apologized, and I don’t care if she forgives me or not. I want you both happy. If I knew that you mean this much to her….I… I wouldn’t have…”

“You’re a good one, Bexley James.” George stated, smiling at her when she playfully rolled her eyes at her full name. “Thank you….seriously. I might have lost it by now,” He admitted.

“You’re welcome. I know that you’re the rather quiet type, but I need you to to out there and get your girl. Tell her I don’t want you because she’s not listening to me. Well, I do want you to continue being one of my best friends but…”

George laughed.

“Me too, X. Me, too.”

It as the best conversation that he has had within a week.

⇈⇊

“Trust me when I say that the drugs aren’t worth it,” Roxie stated as she walked into the back lounge where Lark and Matty were about to take some more pills. She sat down across from them, and looked sternly over at the pair. “There are a lot, a ton of people expecting you both to stay alive.”  
Lark chewed on her bottom lip as Roxie talked. Everything in her wanted to scream that she didn’t know what she was talking about, but she stopped herself. Roxie knew exactly what she was talking about.

Lark was not about to fight a girl who nearly lost her life to pills.

“I’m sorry, love.” Matty smiled charmingly at her.

“Matty, I’m serious,” She stated clasping her hands together. “It’s dangerous, and I don’t want anything to happen to you guys. This isn’t something to play around with.”

Lark sighed, getting up and walking to the bathroom. She knew that Roxie was right. She had been feeling like crap anyway, and she didn’t want to take them. Because of her pills that she was forced to take, the drugs were doing weird things to her mindset. She flushed the pill and walked back out to sit down beside Matty.

“You’re right,” She shrugged. “You’re so fucking right, Rox.” Matty furrowed his brows before chucking his into the nearest trash can. He still planned to use, of course, but just not right now. He knew little of Lark’s background, but he did know that when she mixed the drugs and her medicine, things got strange.

“Good,” Roxie sighed. “Why are you taking them anyway?”

Before Lark could reply, Matty did for her.

“That was my fault. I gave them to her. Didn’t think that it would become a thing.”

“It’s so much more than a thing as you put it. It can cost you your life, Matty.” Roxie sighed, looking between the two of them. “When did you both become a thing?”

Matty smirked, pressing a kiss to Lark’s temple.

“I’d like to call it love at first sight,”

“And I’d like to call it drug-induced decision.” Lark stated, rolling her eyes. “But we’ve been involved since the beginning?”

“Yeah,” He laughed. “Since the beginning, and she’s been a pain in my ass since then,”

“Whatever, Matthew,” Lark laughed. “He’s just butt-hurt because I told him we weren’t friends,”  
Roxie rolled her eyes.

“Wow.” She laughed. “You kind of remind me of Ash and Louis. You’re weirdos.”

“Thanks?” Lark shook her head. “Don’t we have a show to get to?”

“Yes!” Roxie laughed, standing up. “I’m going to go get dressed. I’ll see you guys in the venue.”

Matty yelled a response while Lark leaned back into the couch. Matty was careful, testing the waters so to speak, when he turned toward her. He grabbed her chin gently and pressed his chapped lips to hers. At first Lark didn’t move, but after a minute of light pecks on her lips, she decided to move her lips with his. It was sweet. It didn’t push boundaries asking for more, but it wasn’t just a light kiss.

“Come to my bunk after the show?”

Lark nodded her head slowly, and that’s all that Matty needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy xx


End file.
